Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
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http://archive.org/details/sesquicentennial02wall
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A §wqm-(Entt?nmai History
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A Narrative Historical Edition, Commemorating One Hundred and Fifty Years of
Statehood, Preserving the Record of the Growth and Development of the
Commonwealth, and Chronicling the Genealogical and Memorial
Records of its Prominent Families and Personages.
FREDERICK A. WALLIS
Supervising Editor
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
HAMBLETON TAPP, A.B., M.A.
Author and Editor
HISTORICAL
THE HISTORICAL RECORD ASSOCIATION
HOPKINSVILLE, KENTUCKY
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
The complete index covering the histori-
cal and biographical sections of this edition
will be found at the back of Volume IV,
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CHAPTER XXL
EDUCATION
BEGINNINGS
E,
rDUCATiON, that is book learning, had its beginning in Kentucky
under conditions which would have forbidden it completely with people less hardy.
It began during the Revolution. From the North the blood-thirsty Shawnees and
Mingos, from the South the crafty Cherokees were entering Kentucky, incited by
British cunning and stimulated by British gold. There were mutterings of conflict;
settlers moved closer together; the weak hurried back East; the strong girded for battle,
having come to the beautiful land Kentucke to stay. Powder and shot were low; most
of the wild game frightened off; salt was at a premium; yet more strong men came
from Virginia and North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The forest hung like scythes of
death stealthily awaiting victims. The tomahawk would fall, the scalping knife plied —
a lonely corpse left alone in the solitary woods, that skeleton revealing the gruesome
tragedy months later; while hideously painted savages with dripping scalps rushed to
Detroit to collect British gold for fire-water, their coveted reward.
No one was safe. "Families had to flee in the dark hours of a cold winter night
before flaming torches and bloody axes of Indians who were skulking about frontier
homes, or were peering from the shadows of bushes, waiting for a crucial moment to
give the signal war whoop to bands of savages who knew no mercy," fiends who would
scalp, torture by gouging out the eyes, plying the red hot iron, and burning at the
stake by slow fire amid taunts, jeers, and diabolic hilarity.
In the midst of these perilous conditions a brave pioneer woman, Mrs. William
Coomes, opened a school at Harrodsburg, the first school ever taught in Kentucky.
What though every cabin on the frontier was threatened with the torch? What
though death stalked within the forest? The pioneers had determined to build a western
commonwealth with the lamp of knowledge lighting the way of progress. Although
the pupils carried rifles to school instead of books, the stout-hearted pioneers were con-
vinced that education was worth fighting for. The following year, 1777, John May
opened a school at McAfee's Station. Although the teaching was crude, the unchinked
cabins were cold, and the puncheon benches uncomfortable, it was a beginning, and
those with vision, undismayed by the threatening danger, could picture universities in
in the future."
Scarcely had these rude schools opened when the long-threatened blow from the
North fell — and the desperate siege of Boonesboro began.
In the year 1779 Joseph Doniphan, an able young surveyor, conducted a school
inside the stockade at Boonesboro.' The instruction given in the first of these
stockade schools (later "oldfield" schools) consisted of reading, writing and ciphering
to the rule of three. Writes Professor Lewis: "Geography and arithmetic were taught
orally — the former especially — often in doggerel verse, which was frequently sung in
recitation and in studying, the pupils who were not reciting adding to the monotonous
uproar of the class by studying aloud, as they were usually allowed to do. Tho only
textbooks used at first were Dilworth's Speller and the Bible.4 The rules of the
schools were many, and often read, and the discipline was strict; yet the pupils learned;
they learned practical living, discipline and morals — and practiced them!
The pioneer teachers, while often as crude as their crude surroundings, nevertheless
rendered a great service to the country. They dared the rigors and dangers of the
566 A S E S Q. U I -CENTENNIAL
frontier. Although in most cases not as well equipped physically to endure the ex-
igencies of the new environment as other pioneers, they nevertheless did endure it, and
many paid the supreme sacrifice for daring to come to the frontier to educate pioneer
children. In 1783, John McKinney, teacher of the school at Lexington, was seriously
mangled in an encounter with a wildcat at the school. In 1788, near Losantiville
(Cincinnati), John Filson, founder of an academy at Lexington and Kentucky's first
historian, was killed by the Indians. The same fate befell John May, teacher at Mc-
Afee's Station, while traveling down the Ohio in 1790.' But nothing could quench
the pioneer's thirst for knowledge and nothing could deter teachers from pursuing their
calling.
THE "OLD FIELD SCHOOL"
Following the close of the Revolutionary War, the stations leveled their stockades;
old settlements expanded; and new communities were settled. At that time the "Old
Field" School really came into use in Kentucky. This school, elementary in training,
was so-called because the school building was usually erected on a bit of open space
which had been cleared by the Indians or early settlers, and by this time was more or
less unfit for cultivation/
These "Old Field" schools were one-room cabins made of unhewn logs and, if at all,
poorly chinked. The chimneys were "stack" chimneys; doors and windows were of
rough clapboard, the latter employing greased paper instead of glass to admit light;
mother earth usually was the floor, and the miserable benches were made of rude
puncheons. The instruction at these schools was for the most part rather primitive.
The teacher was usually some elderly man "whose main qualification for the position
was often that he did not know how, or did not care, or have the energy to do anything
else, having probably failed in everything else he had undertaken; or he was some
stranger, a traveling Irishman, or Englishman, or wandering Yankee, whose qualifications
for the place were presumed from the fact that he had seen a good deal of the
world."
These men could not have made teaching a profession, as their wages were very low.
"When teaching, however, they were required to take up early and turn out late, giving
short recesses and noon intermissions, the idea being that they must earn their money.
They were under no supervision, except such as the pupils chose to put upon them,
and taught according to their own peculiar theories, temperaments and habits. They
were often as rough and passionate as they well could be, and liberal in their use of
the rod, even knocking down impertinent pupils." While, on the other hand, some of
them allowed the scholars to do as they pleased. On the whole the pupils probably
dreaded "the frown and birch of the master more than the screams of the wild animals
they sometimes heard on their way to an from the lonely school house."8
Continuing upon the idea of supervision, Professor Lewis states: "Practically the only
supervision to which the teacher was subjected was exercised by the pupils. This was
regulated by custom, with which the patrons of the school never in any way interfered
as long as it was at all within reason. It only concerned such things as threats upon
certain recognized occasions, the granting of holidays, and similar matters, and was en-
forced by the larger boys of the school, who rode the teacher upon a rail, ducked him
in some convenient spring or pond, or otherwise made things so unpleasant for him that
he was forced to yield. A very common practice was to "turn him out" until he
granted the desired concession. This is well illustrated by the following characteristic
incident taken from an article by Col. R. T. Durrett, in the Louisville Courier-Journal,
on April 2, 1881: "On the 28th of April, 1809, the first show, so the boys called it,
occurred in Louisville. It was the exhibition of an elephant, and there was a general
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 567
uprising in all the schools for a holiday . . . the schools at the head of which were
teachers conversant with the habits of the place gave the boys a holiday without trouble,
but there was a New England teacher, recently come to the charge of one of the log
schoolhouses, who could not understand why the boys were to be permitted to lay aside
their books a whole day to see an elephant. He would not grant the holiday asked
and the boys went to work in the usual way to make him yield. On the morning of '
the 28th this Yankee teacher, as they called him, came to his schoolhouse and found
the door well barred with benches, fence rails, and logs of wood, and the boys inside
laughing at his futile attempts to get in. They promptly told him the terms upon which
the fort would be surrendered, which were simply to give them that day as a holiday,
so they could go to see the elephant. The teacher was indignant, and not being able
to get through the door, climbed upon the roof and attempted to descend the chimney.
For this contingency the boys had prepared a pile of dry leaves, and when the teacher's
legs appeared at the top of the chimney the leaves were lighted in the fireplace. Down
came the teacher, for having once started he could not go back and the flames scorched
him and the smoke smothered him, so that he was the powerless autocrat of the school
and knight of the ferule. He gave the holiday and went home to lay up for repairs,
as the boys expressed it, and the boys went to the show as if nobody had been either
burnt or smoked.""
Schools of higher learning than that afforded in the stockade and "old field" (or
"hedgerow") schools soon appeared. John Filson established a seminary in Lexington
in or before 1784. The Rev. Elijah Craig, the pioneer Baptist preacher, established
one at Georgetown in 1788, and the same year the celebrated Dr. James Priestly be-
came master of Salem Academy at Bardstown, a school founded as early as 1786 and
taught by a Mr. Shackelford. Salem for a time was perhaps the most famous in the
district and state; many of the outstanding public men of the state's early history were
trained there. These seminaries or academies became quite popular and were well
supported by the public.1" Writes Humphrey Marshall: "There are many educated
and more means to be applied in that way than most other countries could afford,
while a general propensity for giving and receiving literary instruction was obviously
a prevaling sentiment throughout the country.""
Actually the principal educational interest of Kentuckians during the early period
was in higher education. States Professor Lewis: "Lexington, soon after its establish-
ment, reserved land for Latin and English schools, and by this inducement, as early
as 1787, caused Mr. Isaac Wilson, late of Philadelphia College, as he describes him-
self in an advertisement in the Kentucky Gazette to open Lexington Grammar School;
but state patronage of higher education came even earlier, as Transylvania Seminary,
one of the first "public schools," or seminaries, of learning in the Mississippi Valley,
. . . was endowed by an act of the Virginia legislature in 1780, and further endowed and
chartered in 1783, and other foundations and endowments by the Mother State and
by Kentucky followed rapidly, until soon a state educational system was developed quite
unusual in its circumstances and quite in advnce of the ideas of the day elsewhere in
this country at least."1'
THE SEMINARY OR ACADEMY
In settling its trans-Appalachian territory, the state of Virginia was not unmindful
of the necessity for education. And so, as early as 1780 through the influence of the
Rev. John Todd, a prominent Presbyterian minister of Louisa County, Virgina, and
his nephew, John Todd, then a representative from Kentucky County, an act was
pressed through the legislature providing for the appropriation of 8,000 acres of land
568 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
in Kentucky for the purpose of a public school, or seminary of learning, to be erected
in Kentucky County. Out of this grant was established Transylvania Seminary, which
opened at Danville in 1785 and moved to Lexington in 1787. Under the leadership
of Judge Caleb Wallace, one of the earliest justices of the Supreme Court of Ken-
tucky, other seminaries or academies were established.
It appears that the friends of education in the Virginia legislature intended that a
system of seminaries would be established in Kentucky County by means of land grants
ranging from 6,000 to 12,000 acres of land. A second academy, Salem, was located
at Bardstown and incorporated by Virginia in 1788.
Following the same system as that inaugurated by Virginia, the Kentucky legisla-
ture by an act of December 12, 1794, incorporated Kentucky Academy at Pisgah,
near Lexington; a short time later Bethel Academy, in Jessamine County; and a third,
on December 15, 1795, Franklin Academy at Washington in Mason County. The
first really important academy act passed by the Kentucky legislature was enacted in
1798 when six thousand acres of land each were given to Kentucky, Franklin, Salem,
Bethel, Lexington and Jefferson seminaries, the last two having been established
by the Act at Lexington and Louisville respectively. All of these academies were to
be vested in cooperative boards of trustees and were to be held free from taxes. In-
dicating that the Kentucky legislature of that year were cognizant of the importance
of education, the act further stated: "And whereas it is generally true that people will
be happiest whose laws are best and best administered, and that laws will be wisely
and honestly administered in proportion as those who form and administer them are
wise and honest; whence it becomes expedient for promoting the public happiness that
those persons whom nature hath endowed with genius and virtue should be rendered,
by liberal education, worthy to receive and able to guard the sacred deposit of the
rights and liberties of their fellow-citizens, and that to aid and accelerate this most
desirable purpose must be one of the first duties of every wise government."14 These
legislators were influenced by the language of the noble ordinance of 1787. Not only
did they believe that the state should provide for the education of its children of
ability by means of supplying academies, they believed that a system of state education
should be provided with a state university at the head. Another act of 1798 in-
corporated Transylvania University. Thus with the contemplation of scores of
academies, established by land grants and a university already established, the entire
work indicates the intention of a grand university system. There were to be established
academies in every county of the state which could feed the state university. It was
truly a noble conception, and the main credit is due to the intelligence and industry
of Judge Caleb Wallace. "It is certainly not too much to say that the combined acts of
. . . 1798 established the most enlightened, practical and complete system of educa-
tion that could at that time be witnessed in America or perhaps anywhere else in the
civilized world," declares Professor Lewis.15
The Academy system grew apace and by 1820 the state had endowed as many as
forty-seven county academies with from 6,000 to 12,000 acres of land. The teaching
in these academies for the most part was of a high order. The president was required
to be "a man of the most approved abilities in literature." Greek, Latin and the
"different branches of science" were required to be taught in most academies, thus
furnishing to the students the elements of a good classical education. The discipline
in these schools appears to have been of a better grade than in the "old field" schools.
As early as 1815, however, the academy system was showing signs of failure. There
were evidences of a lack of public interest. The people after the relief from Indian
dangers became engrossed in acquiring wealth, and were inclined to consider the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 569
clearing, the tobacco patch, and the corn field as affording the best possible schooling
for their boys. Moreover, in 1815, the legislature conferred upon the trustees the
absolute right of disposing of all the academy lands.
Unfortunately lands at that time were unusually plentiful and disheartingly cheap.
Many trustees were not only not interested in providing good schools but were often
utterly selfish, and at times unscrupulous, so that thousands of acres of valuable lands
were sold for a mere pittance. It has been estimated that had the lands been held,
each county would have enjoyed today an annual income of $60,000, in many cases
very much more. Thus a magnificent financial foundation for a state educational system
was thrown to the winds. Had the lands been retained, the public educational system
in Kentucky would be fifty years in advance of its present status. What sins have been
committed against education in Kentucky! The noble scheme dreamed by the Todds
and Judge Wallace was permitted by a lesser breed of men to languish and die, but not,
however, before "many of our early lawyers, doctors, ministers and other professional
men obtained all their education in these seminaries."
FEMALE EDUCATION
Until after 1800 the schools of Kentucky afforded little opportunity for the educa-
tion of girls. The "old field" schools, to which females were admitted, did not provide
an atmosphere altogether conducive to refinement. As has been remarked, many of
the teachers of these schools "were often destitute both of a knowledge of polite
literature and good manners." The early academies excluded girls so that practically
no opportunity was afforded for females to acquire grammar-school education.
In 1806 at Paris, the Rev. John Lyle, a Presbyterian minister, opened a seminary for
girls, the first female academy in the West. This school flourished for a time and
closed in 1809 or 1810. At Washington, in Mason County, Mrs. Louisa Fitzherbert
Keats in 1807 established a school for girls, which discont nued in 1812.3'
LORETTO ACADEMY
The first female academy was established by the Catholics in what is now Marion
County in 1812.
During the pioneer period many Catholics came to Kentucky from Maryland and
Virginia. They settled very largely in the present counties of Nelson, Washington,
Marion, Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson and Breckinridge. Much of the land on which
these people had settled was unfertile, and the people were poor. Although high
spirited they were in most cases uneducated and without a numerous leadership. One
of the first priests who came to them, Father Whelan, said, "During their brief sojourn
in the wilderness his little flock had gradually fallen into many practices which were
dangerous to piety. They were in the habit of gathering promiscuously on Saturday
evenings and Sundays, and of dancing until a late hour. In the rude state of society
at that time these meetings were often attended with great disorders."
"Besides these difficulties with his own flock, he (Father Whelan) had to encounter
the fierce opposition of the sectarians, whose prejudices against the Catholic Church
were of the grossest character. Misled by the erroneous opinions which their fore-
fathers had inherited in England, the Protestant settlers were in the habit of viewing
Catholics as idolaters, and the priests as a species of jugglers. Nor were they at all
reserved in the manner of exhibiting this prejudice."1"'
One may well imagine that the Protestants, who were during this period engaged in
violent and acrimonious denominational struggles among themselves, were not disposed
to aid the Catholics in providing facilities for education.
2— Vol. II
570 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Until the arrival in Kentucky of Father Charles Nerinckx in the summer of 1805,
little attention was paid to education in the Catholic section of the state. Almost
single-handed Father Nerinckx led a district from backwardness, wildness and ignorance
to an appreciation for education, both spiritual and academic. Well educated, power-
ful in physique, with the zeal of Peter the Hermit, he set about to administer to
hundreds of families, scattered over hundreds of miles, in a wild primitive country.
"His courage was unequaled; he feared no difficulties and was appalled by no dangers.
Through rains and storms, through snow and ice, over roads almost impassable by
the mud, over streams swollen by the rains or frozen by the cold, by day and by night,
in winter and in summer, he might be seen traversing all parts of Kentucky in the
discharge of his religious duties. . . . He crossed wilderness districts, swam rivers, slept
in the woods among the wild beasts. . . . He never took any rest or recreation. He
seemed always most happy when most busily engaged. . . . But it was on the children
that he lavished his labor with the greatest relish.""
To establish a teaching order of women seems to have been a fixed idea of Father
Nerinckx, and an inspiration as early as September, 1805. At that time he had twenty
young women eager to be taught and to teach. Father Nerinckx's idea was to build a
large log house for them and to have them support themselves by spinning, weaving
and sewing. Aside from teaching these young ladies were "to take care of the sick
irrespective of religious belief."
In 1808, a wilderness philanthropist, a Mr. Dant, donated a hundred acre tract of
land on which to build the proposed convent. With the help of Father Stephen
Theodore Badin, Father Nerinckx set about to erect a log structure, doing a large
part of the manual work himself. When the building was practically completed, it
took fire and burned to the ground. However, undismayed Father Nerinckx set about
to establish another school.
In 1812, with the help of Miss Mary Rhodes, who had been attempting to teach
the little girls of the neighborhood, Miss Christine Stuart, Miss Ann Havern and Miss
Ann Rhodes, the dream of a Catholic Academy to provide teachers came true. Miss
Ann Rhodes, that year, with $75 which constituted her savings and $450 which she
had received from the sale of her slave, bought fifty acres of land on Hardin's Creek
in what is now Marion County on which stood a log house. To this house these
consecrated young women, amid the uncharitable remarks of course scandal-mongers,
went to live in it. Already Miss Mary Rhodes had secured another log house in
which girls of the community were being taught. Miss Mary Rhodes was a talented
and well educated woman lately arrived from Maryland. This "cabin had only the
bare ground for a floor, but the roof and walls kept out a part at least of the snow
and rain. . . . The little building was soon filled to its utmost capacity with others
still eager for the same advantages."""
It was a grand day in the life of Father Nerinckx when on June 29, 1812, the
young ladies were consecrated at his little log church of St. Charles. At the foot of
a rude altar, after words of encouragement from Father Nerinckx, these young women,
the first Lorettines, "made their application in form and gave their solemn promise
to renounce the world and persevere in the choice of life they had made. They were
then clothed with the habit of novices.""1
They took vows to live a life of sacrifice and suffering. Their dress was to be of
black and homespun. Shoes were to be worn in winter, but in summer all were to go
barefooted. They were to sleep on straw "with convenient covers, but no fancy quilts."
The meals were to be in accordance with the poverty which they professed. The day
was to begin at four o'clock in summer, and at half-past four in winter. "The sick
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 571
were to be tenderly cared for, and the dead buried in the religious habit, without
coffiins . . . charity, love and concord were especially inculcated and ... a poverty
disengaged from the least affection to ownership in any kind of property . . . , and
they were to do all kinds of labor for their own support and that of the orphans."'
The cabin in which the novices lived was enlarged by Father Nerinckx, in order
to receive those who had asked to be received. Lofts were prepared where the sisters
could sleep, and the beds of the boarders were laid on the floor of their living rooms
at night. "They had a combined kitchen and refectory, and the table was made of
boards nailed on a stump that had been left standing in the middle of the cabin.
... A work table was made from half of a log with the split side upwards, and sup-
ported by four legs set into the lower side with an auger. The rest of their furniture
was in keeping with this."
The pupils who came in, many of whom were orphans, were instructed in sewing,
spinning, weaving, music, culinary work, Latin, Mathematics and religion.
Thus did Father Nerinckx's dream come true. Thus was the beginning of the first
permanent school for girls in the West. It began a spark, but now it is a flame which
warms and enlightens on three continents.
TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY
As can well be imagined higher education in Kentucky was not fast in developing,
although as early as 1783 an institution of higher learning was contemplated by a few
able men. Professor Lewis thinks that "Judge Caleb Wallace was perhaps more
thoroughly identified with the cause of education, at least higher education, in Ken-
tucky than any other one man before or since his time."
After the chartering of a seminary in Kentucky and the giving of land for its sup-
port by Virginia, the matter of establishing such a school was partially forgotten.
In 1783, however, Judge Wallace, then representative from Kentucky in the Virginia
Legislature, recalled the grant and pressed through the Legislature a measure pro-
viding for twenty-five trustees — the most prominent men in Kentucky — and for a
name for the proposed seminary. The name given was Transylvania. A further grant
of twelve thousand acres of land was made, which enhanced the proposed seminary's
land holding to twenty thousand. The trustees were made a self-perpetuating body by
the charter, which further provided that the seminary might grant degrees and assume
with ease the role of college. Although the proposed academy was looked upon as
a state school, "most of its chief promoters were Presbyterians, a denomination then
and for sometime afterward largely predominent, as an intellectual factor at least in
Kentucky affairs. . . . The Presbyterians are undoubtedly entitled to the credit of
inaugurating higher education in Kentucky."""
Under their auspices Transylvania Seminary was opened at Danville, February 1,
1785, at the home of Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian minister. The tuition was fixed
at four pistoles ($3.60) per year, and the Rev. James Mitchell was employed as
teacher at £30 ($100) per year. The school was taught in the house of Mr. Rice,
because no other suitable place could be found for it. "Such were the humble be-
ginnings of the first institution west of the Alleghany Mountains, an institution
which after a comparatively obscure history of a few years was to blaze forth with
sudden effulgence and to remain for two generations the highest star of the Western
literary firmament."26
Professor Mitchell remained as head of the new school long enough to woo and win
the daughter of "Father" Rice and then with his bride returned to North Carolina.
A period of nominal existance of Transylvania Seminary followed this change. As
572 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
the thoughts of the good people of Danville were occupied at this time with Indian
affairs and political conventions, the trustees of the new Seminary decided in 1789 to
move the languishing school to Lexington where it was hoped that the literary inclined
gentlemen of that thriving metropolis of the West would patronize it. The school
grew slowly under the preceptorships of Mr. Isaac Wilson and later under Rev. James
Moore, a Presbyterian. In 1793 the Transylvania Land Company, under the leader-
ship of John Bradford, editor of the Kentucky Gazette, gave a lot and a building to
the institution on condition of its permanent location in Lexington.
The progress of Transylvania at Lexington was slow, but satisfactory. Before the
turn of the century, however, other demominations growing strong in Kentucky, there
was some opposition to the Presbyterian controlled board. People were very sensitive
concerning doctrinal matters at that time, being certain that no space existed in Heaven
for those who did not follow the beliefs of their peculiar sect. Some of the Presbyterian
members of the board retired. They were satisfied with the school and were willing to
patronize it as long as it conformed to their ideals of what such a school should be,
but when its religious tone or teaching, by reason of other control, became what they
considered dangerous, they simply withdrew their patronage and established one that
better suited their ideas and aims, one of which was to prepare suitable ministers for
the church."
With a change in the personnel of the board the Rev. James Moore for some reason
became unsatisfactory and retired. In 1794 the Rev. Harry Toulmin, a prominent
Baptist minister recently come from Virginia, was elected as master. Unfortunately for
him Mr. Toulmin, a very able man indeed, he had been a friend of Thomas Jefferson,
"which was not in his favor, especially in the eyes of the Presbyterians, as on that
account he was supposed to be tinctured with French philosophy, or infidelity, as they
considered it."29
To have been a friend of Jefferson was bad enough but to have been a Baptist at
the same time was more than some of the pious brethren could endure. There was a
move, therefore, on the part of "Father" Rice, Judge Wallace, and other prominent
Presbyterians to establish another school more to their denominational tastes. Kentucky
Academy was consequently granted a charter, December 12, 1794. It is interesting to
note that in seeking funds for the new school, the trustees sent the Rev. David Rice
and Rev. James Blythe to the East to solicit among prominent men there. They suc-
ceeded in obtaining $10,000. Among the contributors were George Washington, who
is said to have inquired very carefully in regard to the state of learning and literature
in the West, as Kentucky was then called,0 John Adams, and Aaron Burr, who was
unusually interested in education. Many friends of the Presbyterian Church contributed
books as well as money. The new school was located at Pisgah, seven miles southwest
of Lexington, near the home of Judge Wallace. The Kentucky Academy got off to a
good start. However, it was short-lived, because in 1796 Mr. Toulmin voluntarily
withdrew from the headship of Transylvania Seminary. With the obnoxious Mr. Toul-
min, later Secretary of State under Governor Garrard, out the Presbyterian trustees of
Kentucky Academy saw no reason why the two schools, Transylvania and Kentucky
Academy, should not be united. Accordingly, on December 22, 1798, an act was
passed by the Legislature providing for the consolidation of the two schools into a
university, Transylvania University. And on January 1, 1799, with the Rev. James
Moore as first president, Transylvania University was born, an institution worth from
$40,000 to $179,000. The University was established, "contemplating," as the preamble
to the bill stated, "the many singular advantages to be derived to this remote country
from promoting therein a university well-endowed and properly conducted, more es-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 573
pecially as by this measure many of our youths can be prevented from going into other
countries to complete their education, where they must greatly exhaust their fortunes,
and from whence they may probably return with corrupted principles and morals to be
the pests and not the ornaments of the community."
As trustees, the Legislature selected a number of the state's most prominent men,
among whom were Judge Wallace, John Bradford, George Nichols, one of the out-
standing lawyers of the entire nation, and James Garrard, later Governor of Kentucky.
And among the faculty members were Rev. James Blythe and Rev. Robert Stuart, of
the academic department; George Nicholas, of the department of law; and Drs. Samuel
Brown and Frederick Ridgely, of the department of medicine. Later at various times
Henry Clay, James Munroe, John Pope, and John Breckinridge lectured in the depart-
ment of law. Thus from the initial years able and prominent men were associated with
Transylvania University.
This institution developed rather rapidly, reaching between 1817 and 1828 a plane
of brilliancy seldom reached by any university at any time and perhaps, considering
the time, higher than any state university has ever reached.
This position of eminence blossomed into effulgence under the brilliant leadership
of Dr. Horace Holley who came to the presidency in November, 1818. "The new
president aimed to make of Transylvania a genuine University. Complete in every
college and liberally endowed. He was in many ways admirably fitted for the under-
taking. Having graduated at Yale in the class of 1763, when about 22 years of age,
he had, after studying law for a while in New York and then abandoning it for the
ministry, pursued the study of theology under Dr. Dwight in New Haven, when he
had become a Unitarian, not under his preceptor, but from his personal conviction.
Since 1809, he had been the pastor of the Hollis Street Unitarian Church of Boston,
Massachusetts, where he was greatly beloved and admired. He was a man of en-
gaging manners and of great personal magnetism. Besides, his learning was very wide
and his eloquence so stirring as to cause a staid New England audience to burst into
noisy applause on the occasion of his delivering a sermon before the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. In Lexington he entertained freely patrons
of learning and distinguished strangers, and captivating, as he did, all who came near
him, was calculated to interest them in the welfare of the university. This he did in
a very successful way in the case of the State Legislature and of such public-spirited
citizens as Col. James Morrison, Henry Clay, and others."32
Circumstances were highly favorable at that time for the pursuit of Dr. Holley's aims.
The state had recently emerged from the War of 1812 with everlasting glory to herself,
and Indian troubles for her were extinguished. The people were disposed to look upon
education more favorably and the Legislature once more took a lively interest in the
University. The names of the members of the board of trustees, the chairman of which
was the celebrated Robert Wickliffe, were so prominent that they seem to have been
taken from the pages of history. These men for the time being were unusually friendly
to Dr. Holley, and, being as influential as they were, had little difficulty in influencing
legislative aid.
Reading the roster of names of Transylvania's faculty during Dr. Holley's administra-
tion is like perusing a directory of the empyream, so distinguished was it. Among the
names were: John Roche, master of languages; Constantine S. Rafinesque, eminent
instructor of natural history; B. O. Peers, tutor and great friend of popular education;
William T. Barry and Judge Jesse Bledsoe, instructors in law; Dr. Charles Caldwell,
Dr. B. W. Dudley, Dr. Samuel Brown, Dr. Daniel Drake, Dr. James Blythe, all of
the medical department.
574 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Professor Constantine S. Rafinesque was probably, at that time, the most eminent
scientist in America. The names Drake and Dudley are still household names in the
medical profession. Both were regarded as among the outstanding men of medicine
not only in America but Europe as well. Barry and Bledsoe, both eminent lawyers,
achieved places in public life acclaimed not only by the state but by the nation as
well.
"Dr. Drake tells us, in speaking of this faculty . . . *that they were men of brilliant
talents and wide reputation, and collectively constituted a greater array of strength and
brilliancy than was scarcely ever collected in any institution at one time'."J
During Dr. Holley's presidency the library increased from 1,300 volumes to about
6,500, among which were some of the priceless books of Europe. Furthermore, the
enrollment was astonishing for the time. In March, 1821, Transylvania had 282
students; while Yale had 319, Harvard 286, and Princeton 150.
Dr. Holley's administration lived through the era of "good feeling" in the nation —
that time when there was peace at home and abroad, great expansion, prosperity,
spiritual growth and happiness. Kentucky's rich lands were producing lavish wealth
and the Ohio River trade was increasing spectacularly. Her people, feeling that they
had won the War of 1812. were proud, confident, able and contented. Magnificent
mansions, the pride of the Old South, were being erected, and beautiful nature — the
fine blue grass and stately oaks — enhanced their charm. A degree of opulence had
come which permitted leisure for study and the pursuit of the social graces; a gallant,
courtly, handsome gentry and a class of womankind lovely, charming, and gracious arose
to make Kentucky Blue Grass society the most charming, the most hospitable, the.
most fascinating in the West. Truly, Lexington was both the Athens and the Versailles
of the West.34
At the very zenith of this era of good feeling the aging hero General LaFayette
visited Kentucky. The occasion was an epoch-making time for the people of the state;
they could show to the world their attractiveness and hospitality — and they did. Amid
pageantry — music, flags, soldiers, flowers, beauty, gallantry, dazzling splendor, the old
hero of the Revolution entered Lexington, on a bright May day, 1825.
By 1825, in spite of the brilliancy of Dr. Holley's administration, bickerings could
be heard against him, particularly among the Presbyterians, who, in fact, had opposed
him throughout. He was a Unitarian and a free-thinker and rash enough to proclaim
his beliefs. His ideas of living were rather free, too. Doubtless, though, had he been
quieter before students and townspeople, he could have avoided trouble. He did not,
however, and lost his position.
The story of the vicissitudes of the noble old institution in the years following the
golden era of Holley is quoted from Mr. Hamlett. It follows:
The Rev. Alva Woods, D.D., was president from 1828 to 1831, when he resigned
to become the first President of the University of Alabama. During his term the
City of Lexington donated over ten thousand dollars to meet expenses of the school.
On May 9, 1829, occurred the loss by fire of the central hall, built during the pre-
ceding administration. John Lutz, A.M., was at the head of the University from
1831 to 1833.
"From 1833 to 1834, the Rev. Benjamin O. Peers was president. On November 4,
1833, a new building, the present Morrison College, was dedicated. This was built
from funds from the bequest of James Morrison, a wealthy landowner and a trustee
of the University. This hall was located about two hundred yards north of the old
college row, upon an eminence in the centre of an additional campus of fourteen acres
adjoining the smaller one.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 575
"The next administrations were those of Rev. Thomas W. Colt, D.D., 1835 to 1837;
of Rev. Louis Marshall, D.D., 1838 to 1840; and of Rev. Robert Davidson, D.D., 1840
to 1842. In 1841, the trustees committed the academic department, then known as
Morrison College, to the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Church. Under its
auspices the Rev. Henry B. Bascom, D.D., LL.D., held the presidency from 1842 to
1849. He, like Holley, was a man of great natural power; but, unlike Holley, he
enjoyed none of the advantages of collegiate training. He was, however, in all his
youthful wanderings as a circuit rider a hard student and his own severe master. An
orator and a natural leader of men, he had attracted the notice of Henry Clay, through
whose commendation Bascom was, in 1823, made Chaplain of the House of Represen-
tatives at Washington. A second era of great growth began for the University; in
1843, five hundred and fifty-two students were in attendance, a revival of influence
which continued after Bascom's resignation in 1849, to become later a bishop of his
church.
"James B. Dodd, A.M., was acting-president until the academic department was
reorganized in 1856, under the presidency of the Rev. Lewis W. Green, D.D., as a
State school for teachers. At the close of his administration in 1858, the University,
owing to the unrest of the years of the Civil War, became almost dormant. Only
small classes were in attendance in Morrison College, chiefly in the Law Department.
During the height of the war, the buildings were seized by the Federal Government as
military hospitals: 'groans of wounded and dying filled the classic halls which had sa
often echoed to the logic of Holley, the fire of Bascom, or the eloquence of Clay.'
"During the seventy-five years of old Transylvania's existence, thousands of students
from all over the South had been in attendance and about two thousand degrees had
been granted in Arts, Medicine and Law. The Medical Department alone had registered
six thousand, four hundred and six pupils, and had one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four graduates.
"On February 28, 1865, through the efforts of John B. Bowman, LL.D., Transylvania
University was consolidated with Kentucky University, then located at Harrodsburg
under the patronage of the Disciples of Christ.
"Kentucky University had grown out of Bacon College, the earliest literary insti-
tution of its grade among the Disciples of Christ, which had been established in
Georgetown, Kentucky, in 1836. The college was removed to Harrodsburg in 1839,
where it was conducted until insufficient means led to its suspension in 1850.
"In the winter of 1855-56, Major James Taylor and Mr. John B. Bowman, both of
Mercer County, entered on the work of founding a university which should be the
successor of Bacon College. Mr. Bowman's appeals for financial aid were successful
beyond expectation, and the preparatory department was opened in 1857. An amended
charter, approved January 15, 1858, in which the provisions of the first charter were
greatly extended and the name of the institution changed to Kentucky University was
accepted by the trustees of Bacon College, February 2, 1858. The collegiate department
was opened under the presidency of Robert Milligan, A.M., September, 1859. The
destruction of the college building by fire in 1864, necessitated the removal of the in-
stitution from Harrodsburg. After invitations from Louisville and Covington had
been considered, an offer of the property of Transylvania University that had been
made and declined in 1860, and that was now renewed, was accepted.
"The first session of Kentucky-Transylvania University began in Lexington, October
2, 1865. To the College of Liberal Arts and the Academy, which had been conducted
at Harrodsburg, the College of the Bible was added and the College of Law was
resumed. The office of regent of the University was created July 17, 1865. John
576 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
B. Bowman, LL.D., the founder of Kentucky University, was elected regent, which
office he held until June, 1878. During his administration, in 1865, the Agricultural
and Mechanical College of Kentucky was affiliated with the University. This ar-
rangement proved unsatisfactory, and was discontinued in 1878.
"In this year also the last session of the College of the Bible under the charter of
Kentucky University closed, and the new College of the Bible, which had been
established in 1877, took its place. Since then this college, organized under its own
charter, is in administration and control entirely independent of the Transylvania.
"The office of regent was discontinued June 12, 1878, at which time Henry H.
White, LL.D., was elected president of the University. He filled this office until, on
his resignation in 1880, Charles Louis Loos, LL.D., was elected to succeed him. In his
administration, in 1887, the College of Liberal Arts and the Academy were opened to
women. The department of physical culture was opened in 1894.
"The presidency of the University having again become vacant by resignation,
Reuben Lindsay Cave, A.M., was, in the summer of 1897, elected to succeed President
Loos.
"The hundredth anniversary of the opening of Transylvania University was com-
memorated in Morrison Chapel on the evening of January 1, 1899. The Governor
of the Commonwealth was present, and the parts of an appropriate program were
borne by gentlemen at the head of sister institutions of learning and by prominent
ministers.
"On the resignation of President Cave, in February, 1900, Alexander R. Milligan,
A.M., served as acting-president until June, 1901, when Burris A. Jenkins, A.M., B.D.,
was elected president of the University.
"At the annual commencement in June, 1905, the fortieth anniversary of the
removal of Kentucky University to Lexington and its consolidation with Transylvania
University was celebrated with a great reunion of alumni. Wednesday, June 14,
was devoted to anniversary exercises.
"In October, 1906, ill-health, which had been increasingly recurrent for more than
a year, forced President Jenkins to lay down the duties of office. Thomas Benton
Macartney, Jr., M.A., Ph.D., Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, was forthwith
elected acting-president of the University, which office he held until October, 1908.
"By an act of Legislature, approved March 20, 1908, and effective on June 12 of
that year, the charter of that University was so amended as to confer upon the Cura-
tors of Kentucky University all the rights and privileges of the Trustees of old Tran-
sylvania University; the requirement as to particular church affiliations of the members
of the Board was annulled and the name of the institution was changed back to
Transylvania University. In the same year the Medical Department, in Louisville,
and the Commercial College, in Lexington, were discontinued. The College of Law
was suspended in June, 1912.
"In June, 1908, Richard Henry Crossfield, M.A., Ph.D., was elected president of
the University, assuming the duties of office October 22, 1908."'°
ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Notwithstanding the fact that numerous elementary schools and academies were
established during the pioneer period and following, a vast majority of the children
of the state were not in school and the percentage of illiteracy was appalling. The
masses of the people in the rural districts, however, were apathetical toward education
and saw no reason why their children should be sent to school, especially as long as
there was work to be done on the farm. Many of the true friends of democracy and
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 577
learning, viewing the situation sorrowfully, yet hopefully, set about to make possible
the education of a larger number of children. This, they realized, could be done only
by making education cheaper and by convincing the people that public education was
worthwhile. Massachusetts had furnished a model system of public education and
other states had followed her lead. Kentucky leaders, therefore, were not obliged to
leap in the dark. Accordingly, in the year 1821, an attempt was made to establish
a system of public education. That year the state Legislature passed an act providing
that one-half of the clear profits realized from the state's Bank of the Common-
wealth was to be set aside as the "Literary Fund" and devoted to the establishing
of a public school system. Most of the members of the Legislature were uncommonly
interested. The time appeared to be auspicious. Pursuant to this act a committee of
able men was appointed to devise a system of common schools. This committee corres-
ponded with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Robert Y. Hayne,
each of whom expressed their faith in schools and suggested a plan of democratic
education. The committee reported an elaborate and ambitious program. Unfortu-
nately, however, the Legislature by the time that the report was submitted had lost
some of its ardor for public education. Furthermore, in a few years the Bank of
the Commonwealth failed, causing a school fund of sixty thousand dollars per annum
to dwindle to practically nothing. Then the Legislature inaugurated the policy of
making the school fund subservient to every other public interest: The revenue proper
became insufficient to defray the expenses of the state government; the little funds
which the school fund retained were seized, and naturally enough this attempt to
establish a general system of education ended a total failure. ""
After this system of education had languished helplessly for a number of years, an
opportunity was afforded the Legislature to make a third attempt to establish a system
of common schools. This opportunity was made possible by a large gift from the
Federal Government. As early as 1821 a Kentucky Legislature had passed reso-
lutions calling upon Congress to pass a law allotting to Kentucky her equitable portion
of the public domain, the return from which was to be devoted to public education. The
appropriation was finally made by an act passed by Congress in June of 1836, under
which act Kentucky received the sum of $1,433,757. Unfortunately an act of the
state Legislature passed in February, 1837, providing for the investment of the fine
gift from the Federal Government, dedicated only $1,000,000 to education, thus ignoring
at the outset the pledge to devote the entire gift to the advancement of learning/'
It would have been well had the fund remained at $1,000,000, but the act of 1837
was an entering wedge. At that time an internal improvement program was the most
popular function on the legislative mind, a costly internal improvement program. In
that mind this program must not be slighted, no matter what else suffered. By an
act of 1838 the school fund was reduced from $1,000,000 to $850,000. However, for
the sum which the state took bonds were caused to be issued to the State Board of
Education, a corporation created by an act of the General Assembly, and an interest
of 6 (/< per annum was authorized.
The most important feature relating to educational legislation passed during the
session of 1838 was the general law establishing a system of common schools, a law
which was approved, February 16, 1838. The most important provisions of this law
were: (1) The entire school fund, which was the interest on $850,000, amounting to
$42,500 annually, was to be distributed among the counties in proportion to the
number of children reported to the commissioner, but a schoolhouse had to be erected
and a school tax levied in the district before a school was entitled to its proration.
(2) A state board of education, consisting of the attorney general, secretary of state,
578 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
and the superintendent of public instruction, was provided. (3) The office of state
superintendent of public instruction, the superintendent to be appointment by the
governor every two years and confirmed by the senate, was established. (4) The
counties were to be divided into school districts, no district to contain more than one
hundred pupils nor fewer than thirty pupils. (5) The people of each district were
to vote as to whether or not they wanted the new system. (6) Provision was made
for the school affairs of the county to be managed by five commissioners appointed by
the state superintendent and for the election by the people of five trustees in each
district. (7) The commissioners and district trustees were empowered to examine
teachers and grant certificates to teach in the common schools. (8) "No district was
entitled to any part of the state fund until a common school had been regularly
organized, a schoolhouse procured at the expense of the inhabitants thereof, and a
tax levied upon the inhabitants thereof sufficient, when added to the state fund, to
equal the expenses of the school." (9) The whole number of white children over
seven and under seventeen were pupil children. (Hamlett, pp. 11,12) .
Scarcely had the school system begun to function even feebly before the Legisla-
ture began to deny the State Board of Education the funds which were due it by
every law of ethics known. Here was a state with thousands of illiterate and un-
schooled people. Here was a state which had been given $1,433,000 to be devoted to
education. Here was a state that had launched a system of public schools, to give
educational opportunities to the countless thousands to the end that life might be
abundant and democracy might live. Here was a state whose representatives were
rapidly depriving her of a fund which had been consecrated to the noblest of all
purposes.
Fortunately, during the trying infancy of public education in Kentucky, Dr. Robert
J. Breckinridge, in 1847, became Superintendent of Public Instruction. Few men of
the nation, if a single one, were as well qualified for the task as was Dr. Breckinridge.
A man of recognized scholarship in both America and Europe, powerful of intellect,
indomitable in courage, eloquent of expression, pleasing mien and polished manner,
fascinating in conversation, resourceful, aggressive and confident, this unusual man
brought all the powers of his great personality to play in an heroic fight for popular
education in Kentucky. "For long years the system (of general instruction) had dragged
along heavily, one after another (superintendent) accepting reluctantly the herculean
task of trying to bring order out of confusion, only to become discouraged and abandon
the task to some one else who could be found willing to make the trial."" But Dr.
Breckinridge, after a hard fight which continued for a number of years, succeeded
where others had failed. Under his wizardous guidance, in less than a year after
his accession to office, Dr. Breckinridge had been instrumental in securing a bond
from the state for the arrears of interest due the School Board, an arrear of $308,-
268.42 and had gone before a people, who had been practically dead to the cry of
public education, with a plea so eloquent and compelling that by a large majority they
voted, in 1848, a general property tax upon themselves of two cents on each one
hundred dollars of property. In less than three years' time under Dr. Breckinridge's
vigorous administration, instead of the 170 public schools in the state in 1847, there
were 3,704; instead of 20,000 school children reported for 1847, there were in 1850
reported by the counties 178,559. But the most dramatic episode in the educational
career of this great superintendent was his heroic fight, in 1850, to save the School
Fund.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 579
DR. BRECKINRIDGE'S FIGHT TO SAVE THE SCHOOL FUND
In 1850 Governor John J. Crittenden, a staunch friend of public education, resigned
the governorship to accept a post in the cabinet of President Fillmore. The guber-
natorial vacancy was filled by Lieutenant Governor John L. Helm. At that time the
constitution of 1850 was going into effect. Governor Helm thought that a .section of
this new instrument was so worded as to relieve the Commissioners of the Sinking
Fund from further responsibility of the payment of interest on the school bonds. In
endeavoring to establish his contention, the Governor devoted more than half of his
message of 1850 to the General Assembly to this unusual construction. He contended,
among other suggestions, that under the constitution it was the Assembly's duty to
make provision by law for payment of the interest on the school bonds. He denied
that the intention on the part of the state to pay the principal of the school bonds
had ever existed. Governor Helm further stated that the Sinking Fund should have
no connection with the School Fund whatsoever. "Let each look to and rely upon its
own resources," he said. "The general education of the people," he had stated further,
"is an object of very high importance in all possible conditions of human society, and
is absolutely vital in free states . . . Now, more than ever, we must consider it as one
of the settled and most important questions of public policy of Kentucky, to bring
the blessings of education within the reach of all our youth.'* Yet in spite of this
friendly gesture to public education, one, in analizing Governor Helm's message, is
impressed with the idea that his principal purpose was not to help education but to
save money for the Sinking Fund, so that the indebtedness from public improvements
could be paid quickly. Desiring to rid the state of indebtedness, the Governor
naturally wished to be relieved of the indebtedness of $1,400,000.01 to the Board of
Education, although each would mean leaving the schools to the generosity of the
General Assembly or leaving them to look out for themselves as best they could.
But — a fact that had not been mentioned — the state was honor-bound to repay the
money which she had arbitrarily borrowed from the School Fund; that solemn obligation
hovered about the state government like the ghost of Banquo, giving it no rest. When
it appeared that the state would repudiate finally her sacred obligation, when it seemed
that public education in Kentucky was doomed, Robert J. Breckinridge, stirred to
indignation by outraged honor, like a crusader of old thrilled by the prospect of battle
in a holy cause, rose to the defense of waning education, and with all his enthusiasm,
with all his great powers of intellect, with all the force of his masterful personality,
prepared for battle.
The scene of Dr. Breckinridge's great fight to save the school fund was the chamber
of the House of Representatives. This hall is in the Old Capitol at Frankfort, and
is now used as a museum by the State Historical Society. The time was the evening
of December 10, 1850. Dr. Breckinridge had been invited by the two houses to
speak on the condition of education in Kentucky.
DESCRIPTION OF DR. BRECKINRIDGE
He was tall, perhaps six feet, and slender. His complexion was rather fair; grayish
blue eyes and reddish brown hair. His general demeanor suggested culture, refine-
ment, and scholarship; his voice was soft and resonant, having rare range, and was
strangely compelling; it was perhaps a high baritone. His mood in speaking was
usually serious, humor only now and then appearing; yet he often became thoroughly
aroused, at which times he was likely to be impulsive; there was a compelling con-
ciseness, simplicity, and logic about his diction, which, although at times trenchant,
was usually beautiful and eloquent. The qualities which he was able to bring forth
580 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
in debate were often overwhelming, so overwhelming indeed that he was often
characterized as truculent. As Dr. Breckinridge had had the honor many times of
having engaged in public debate with a few of the most famous controversialists of
both the United States and Europe, he was not lacking, as one can easily imagine,
in self-control and confidence upon this occasion. Being a minister, he wore sombre
ministerial clothes. He was usually very neat and tastefully, yet not conspicuously,
dressed. His general personality was such that he was fascinating to most people,
particularly women. On the present occasion, the Doctor was stirred to indignation
by the aspect of a public school system threatened with ruin, a public school system
which if destroyed would leave the youth of the state without the hope of enlighten-
ment— all because, he thought, political leaders, blind to plighted honor, were selfishly
bent upon enhancing their own political fortunes, with little regard for the welfare
of future generations.
The high point of the scene came at a point in Dr. Breckinridge's speech which was
delivered on Tuesday evening, December 10, 1850, before the General Assembly.
There were approximately a hundred legislators present, beside numerous spectators,
men and women, who filled every available seat in the main hall and in the balcony
behind and above. Dr. Breckinridge stood in front of the speaker's desk; he was
straight, dignified, and impressive. On the wall directly behind the speaker's desk
hung two large portraits: that of Washington on the right; that of Daniel Boone on
the left. A clerk sat at a small table immediately in front of and to the right of the
speaker's desk. George W. Johnston, of Shelby County, was the Speaker. Among
the well-known personages of the General Assembly (House and Senate) were:
Joseph H. Lewis, George W. Williams, Samuel Hanson, Lucius Desha, Norvis Green,
Alexander Churchill, Samuel Geiger, William Preston, Thomas Todd, James P. Met-
calfe, Col. Richard M. Johnson, Hiram McElroy, Thomas S. Grundy, Caleb B.
Wallace, Robert A. Patterson, Benjamin Edwards Grey, Hamilton Pope, Camden
Ballard, William C. Bullock, Thomas P. Linthicum, James P. Barbour, Beriah
Magoffin and John P. Bruce.
The Frankfort Commonwealth, December 17, 1850, made the following comment
upon Dr. Breckinridge's address: "The great power of the speaker was shown not only
in the manner in which he treated his subject, but in holding, as he did, the profound
attention of a very large audience for two hours and a half — a speech, which could
only be properly appreciated by those who heard it; and which, considered merely as
an effort of human intellect and eloquence, was such as has seldom fallen upon our
ears.
A PART OF THE SPEECH
"It would be impossible, on an occasion like the present, to attempt any reply to
the various arguments that have been brought forward, and which able and ingenius
men may easily multiply, upon this, as upon every other subject — to favor views
opposite to those here stated. I the more readily omit any such attempt — not only be-
cause I have much reason to believe that the interpretation I have given will turn out
to be in full accordance with the sense of the convention which made the constitution
— many of whose members are now in the two houses of the general assembly — as I feel
satisfied it is the necessary sense of the language they have used; but also because I
have very lately had the honor of going over the whole ground, first, before a joint
meeting of the two legislative committees on education, and, secondly, before the
legislature itself. I cannot, however, wholly omit to notice one topic which has
occasioned me great surprise. It is alleged that the bonds of the state, held by the board
of education, are not — in any proper sense — much less in any constitutional sense, a
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 581
state debt, or any part of that state debt, and, for that reason, are not chargeable on
the sinking fund. For myself, I cannot tell what language means, what facts signify,
or what it is men intend by public faith, or by the obligations of law and equity, truth
and honor — if these bonds do not constitute, in the clearest, fullest, and most complete
sense, a public debt. There they are. Executed, one after another, by authority of
law. Signed, all of them, by successive chief magistrates of the state. All of them
recognized in act after act, by many legislatures, as bonds of the state of Kentucky;
and finally by an act of absolute sovereignty, recorded upon the face of her constitution
— as debts which her plighted faith, her stainless honor, and her most enduring interests
not only require her to pay, but having paid, to manage as a sacred trust, as long as
her everlasting mountains stand unmoved, and her broad plains nourish patriots. If
we consider the origin of this fund, the debt is thereby rendered only the more im-
pressive in its vast obligation. It was a gift from a great nation to a generous state;
a gift accepted only to be used for noble ends, and with a high instinct, consecrated to
the noblest of them all. So to that very end — how does it magnify and enlarge the
obligation — to pay the debt, if it should cost our very last farthing; the glory of our
race — the hopes of our children — the destiny of all who are to follow us! Nay, if we
go behind the bonds, and beside all collateral consideration of their validity — there is
one single and conclusive fact, final both against the state and the sinking fund. The
sinking fund was created, by law, to pay, first, the interest and then the principal of
the internal improvement debt of the state. The money represented by every dollar of
state bonds held by the board of education went into the internal improvement system;
for the whole of these bonds represent the original sum dedicated, and the larger
portion of its accruing interest, since its dedication. These bonds are, therefore, in
every equitable view of them, a portion of the specific debt which the sinking fund was
originally created to discharge; and would be entitled to be placed on that fund upon
principles of general equity, independently of any specific provision of the new consti-
tution— and were so placed, upon those principles, as I have clearly shown — before the
act of March 1, 1850, and before the new constitution existed. It would require a very
clear declaration of that instrument, under such circumstances, to disallow a state debt
of this description; and to do it, in the face of contrary provisions, clearly recognizing
it, would be an act which I will forbear to characterize, and one which I do not believe
the state of Kentucky will ever perpetrate."40
A short time following Dr. Breckinridge's address, a bill was introduced into the
Senate by Br. Beriah Magoffin, directing the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund to
pay, out of any moneys in their hands, the amount of interest due the common school
fund. This bill passed both houses but was vetoed by Governor Helm. It then repassed
both houses by 28 to 6 and 64 to 26 majorities, thereby becoming law, and Dr. Breckin-
ridge had won his great fight. Free common school education now was assumed in
Kentucky.
In 1849 a constitutional convention met in Kentucky, perhaps the most important
constitutional convention ever held in the state. One of the burning questions was
public education. The friends of the denominational schools and public academies, and
the politicians who wished never to repay the school fund — it could be more conveniently
employed for things more political — were determined and bitter in their opposition to
free public education. Yet there was an able group of the friends of public education
in the convention, and they were ably directed by the brilliant state superintendent of
public instruction. The debate which issued was a battle of giants. Allied with the
group to thwart the public school system was one of the ablest lawyers of the state,
an exCongressman, a veteran debater, a master of repartee, sarcasm, ridicule, irony, as
582 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
well as of eloquence, Hon Ben Hardin, of Bardstown, No champion of the common
schools was as well-known as the aging Hardin; yet the friends of popular education,
feeling that their cause was just and noble and right, threw themselves into the battle
with all their might. The blows struck on each side were not of the sewing circle variety,
but were strong, sometimes bitter, and always virile. The debate on education began
early in December, 1849, after the reading of the report by the chairman of the com-
mittee on education. The bill, reported sought to put into the new constitution a clause
recognizing the legitimacy of the state's debt to the State Board of Education and
requiring the regular annual payment of interest on the school fund. Mr. Hardin jumped
to the floor immediately following Mr. Taylor's report, and the battle was on.
The education section of the constitution of 1849 is here carried in full:
"The capital of the fund called and known as the 'Common School Fund,' con-
sisting of $1,225,768.42, for which bonds have been executed by the State to the Board
of Education, and $73,500.00 of stock in the Bank of Kentucky; also the sum of
$51,223.29, balance of interest on the school fund for the year 1848, unexpended,
together with any sum which may be hereafter raised in the State by taxation or
otherwise for purposes of education, shall be held inviolate, for the purpose of sus-
taining a system of common schools. The interest and dividends of said funds together
with any sum may be produced for that purpose by taxation or otherwise, may be
appropriated in aid of common schools, but for no other purpose. The General
Assembly shall invest said $51,223.29 in some safe and profitable manner; and any other
portion of the interest and dividends of said school fund, or other money or property
raised for school purposes, which may not be needed in sustaining common schools, shall
be invested in like manner. The General Assembly shall make provision, by law, for the
payment of the interest of said school fund: Provided, That each county shall be entitled
to its proportion of the income of said fund, and if not called for, for common school
purposes, it shall be reinvested from time to time for the benefit of such county.
"A Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be elected by the qualified voters of
this Commonwealth at the same time the Governor is elected, who shall hold his office
for four years; and his duties and salary shall be prescribed and fixed by law."4"
PUBLIC SCHOOLS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR
The condition of the common schools in 1867 when the able Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Zachariah Frederick Smith, took office was critical. This condition had
been predicted by Robert J. Breckinridge in 1850 as a result of a lack of funds. He
had stated that without local support the school fund would be able to keep open the
schools not longer than six weeks during the year even though in 1848 the people had
voted a two-cent property tax. Dr. Breckinridge asked that the districts make greater
efforts at cooperation. It should be noted that the schools established during his ad-
ministration were not free, although it was not his fault.
Z. F. Smith found that the tax of five cents being collected at the beginning of his
administration was producing $185,000. He suggested that the amount should be
increased to the unheard of sum of $740,000 annually. This amount would keep open
the schools for five months during the year, pay the teachers from $19 to $25 per
month; it would actually amount to $2.37 per pupil child! But this stupendous sum
(as it was regarded by the public) would require a property tax of twenty cents! Z. F.
Smith, himself, probably thought this tax high, yet when he considered the sad plight
of the school system he was emboldened. He declared, "I assumed the duties of my
office in September last, under the prejudicial conviction of the popular mind, that the
Common School System of Kentucky, no longer worthy of the grave consideration
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 583
of our men of public trust, had been discarded from the policies of State legislation,
and abandoned to whatever fate fortune might hold in reserve for it. This popular
conviction was the logical conclusion of the treatment it had received at the hands of
those who should have felt an ever-abiding obligation to sustain, foster, and build up
so vital and important an interest to the people of the state — the legislators of the
sessions of the past thirty years. Beyond the acts for local and personal accommodation,
in which the Legislatures inclined to be prodigal, but little attention had been given to
the wants of the institution (the common school system) . The pro rata distribution
of funds had fallen off thirty-three per cent . . . the vitality and efficiency of the
administration of local interests of the system were becoming continually more impaired.
The fatal and steady processes of decay were . . . painfully evident from year to
year, where sagacious and conscientious statesmanship should have infused life, strength
and energy in the only measure of general benefit for the people now incorporated in
the policy of our State."4'
The grand work of the brilliant Dr. Breckinridge was being permitted to fall into
decay. Children in the back country were growing up in ignorance; they ran through
the forests like animals. Ambitious parents were leaving Kentucky that their children
might have better educational opportunities. And in vain did the journals of the state
attempt to entice foreigners to the old land of Daniel Boone.
Somehow "Zack" Smith, masterful man that he was, succeeded against the most
determined opposition in getting the General Assembly to adopt most of his program,
and the people ratified it. The tax was increased from five to twenty cents, thus in-
creasing the school receipts from $185,000 in 1867 to $968,176.80 in 1871. Districts
were consolidated; teachers were better paid; the school term was increased from a few
weeks each year to five months; something was done toward uniform textbook adoption.
And began a new public school system — a free public school system.
Z. F. Smith's comprehensive work infused new life into the educational development
of Kentucky. Great improvement was quickly realized. The increase of funds did
wonders, and for a number of years all seemed well with the common schools.
Yet, great as was the reformation brought about by Mr. Smith, all of the abuses
were not eradicated, and so by 1887, the year of the beginning of Ed Porter Thompson's
administration, the public school system, although receiving about $2,000,000 annually,
was failing to achieve the expected results. Mr. Thompson struck at the heart of the
difficulty when he indicted persons of the districts in charge of the school administration,
the trustees for failing to do their duty. He stated: "Instead of considering the school
money as a donation made by the state to her pupil children, to be devoted to the
express purpose of educating them, it seems to be regarded, in many instances, as a
kind of bonus to the district, to which some kinsman or other favorite has more claim
than the children to whom it is meant to furnish the key to the temple of knowledge.
. . . The fact that it is a sacred trust is lost sight of. Its power to give the poor, as
well as the rich, a priceless boon, receives no consideration." Mr. Thompson stated that
some applicants for schools, with no thought of fitness, actually go to the polls and
work for the election of the trustee who has promised to give him or her the school;
that there is constant dissatisfaction, strife, and dissention in hundreds of communities.
Mr. Thompson, aside from advocating a change in the district and trustee system
advocated a longer school term, and especially the transferring of the power of appointing
teachers from the district trustee to a county board. But Ed Porter Thompson ac-
complished very little. The General Assembly again was interested in things more
political and the masses of the people were unconcerned. The noble, intelligent Wil-
liam M. Beckner, of Winchester, by constant vigilance and active fighting in the con-
584 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
stitutional convention of 1899 kept the new constitution free from clauses which would
limit state support of public education to the common schools, thus paving the way
for public high schools and larger support of schools of higher learning. But Judge
Beckner was unable to insert clauses in the constitution providing for educational reform.
By 1905, the Kentucky Educational Association had come to the realization that if
a revival in education were not given to the people, who seemingly were steadily be-
coming more apathetic, that Kentucky would sink to the lowest place among the states
of the Union in education. The Educational Improvement Commission which drew
up a reform program and carried a plea for modernized education to the people.
Marked results were obtained in the General Assembly of 1906, when the normal
schools were established.
The most enthusiastic campaigns to cause Kentucky's citizens to be conscious of the
value of education and of educational reforms was launched by Dr. John Grant Crabb
in 1909, while State Superintendent. Dr. Crabb, aside from being highly intelligent
and highly learned, was deeply interested in the educational and spiritual growth of
Kentucky, and used his indefatigable energy, always cheerfully to further it. He knew
how to get along with people and was a born organizer. Dr. Crabb called his cam-
paigns the "Whirlwind" campaigns. These were conducted for a few days in 1908
and in 1909. He marshalled aid of the K. E. A., the press, the women's clubs, prominent
laymen and scores of able school men. "The campaign was a continuous cyclone bom-
bardment against illiteracy and ignorance," wrote Mr. Hamlett.4° The entire state was
canvassed and every county was visited by a speaker or speakers. There were rallies in
the county seats, with special programs, brass bands, placards, and general enthusiasm.
Loyal, poverty-bitten women teachers donned in their gigantic hats, tight shirtwaists,
and sweeping skirts, lifted their chins, and marched in the parade for a better Kentucky.
Governor Augustus E. Wilson, Tom McGregor, Judge John P. Haswell, H. H.
Cherry, Harry V. McChesney, Cotton Noe and numerous others took the stump.
T. J. Coates, McHenry Rhodes made the welkin ring for better education. Miss Lelia
M. Patridge, Mrs. Desha Breckinridge, Mrs. J. M. Mitchell told the story on many
platforms. George Colvin raised his great voice — there were enthusiastic speakers
everywhere. The state was moved for education as it never had been before. And
a new day began in education in Kentucky. The old delapidated district system was
swept away, and in its place the county district system was inaugurated. Local taxes
in the counties and districts increased from $180,000 in 1907-08 to $1,000,000 in 1909.
A child labor law was enacted. A compulsory school attendance law was passed.
Large appropriations were made to the State University and to the two normal schools,
and a law was passed providing for the establishing of an educational planning com-
mission.40
Superintendent Crabb's administration marked the beginning of a new era in public
education in Kentucky. Since his time progress has been steadily made. Subsequent to
his progressive era there have been seasons of transcendent melioration. In 1920 George
Colvin became Superintendent of Public Instruction. He loved the school child and
public education to a degree of few others. To improve standards of teaching and to
give the country child an opportunity equal to that of the city child he gave all his
great magnetic strength. Day in and day out all the elements of that fine personality
and powerful physical strength were freely, joyously given for finer educational op-
portunity in Kentucky.
George Colvin caused the people of Kentucky to feel that a heart and a soul existed
in education. Neither the taunts of enemies nor pain of sickness could kill his faith
that every person was worth educating. Even when his great strength was exhausted,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 585
his fine love for the school child and for teachers was as bright and unselfish as when
in the full strength of happy manhood he had found joy in fighting for the weak.
George Colvin's administration will be remembered as a landmark in the history of
public education in Kentucky. '
As if the gods, sorry for the tardy growth of public education in Kentucky during
her early history, would make recompense, soon after the administration of George
Colvin came that notable season of progress under James H. Richmond, a man with
an idea for betterment of education and with the determination and tact to carry it
through. Mr. Richmond gave his strength unsparingly for the advancement of learning
in Kentucky. He sympathized with the teachers, and grieved that Kentucky was not
in the front rank in education among the states of the Union. His work was great,
his achievements were many. Among many outstanding achievements, the most out-
standing of all was the adoption by the General Assembly of the School Code, an
educational law so replite with reforms that the state has not yet begun to realize fully
the complete scope of its benefits. In years to come Kentucky will be deriving benefit
from it. The last thirty or more years have been brilliant ones in the history of
education in Kentucky.
Following the administration of Dr. Richmond, progress in public education continued
satisfactorily. Superintendent Harry W. Peters concentrated the efforts of the De-
partment upon the improvement of the rural school, particularly the establishment of
county high schools. Superintendent John W. Brooker centered his objectives around
two points, namely equalization and curriculum. Concerning the first objective, a
constitutional amendment was passed which enabled the superintendent to distribute
funds other than upon the per capita basis up to 10% of the per capital appropriation.
This was an outstanding achievement which made possible the distribution of funds to
poor counties with sparce populations for the purpose of raising teachers' salaries. As
its making is a gradual and long-time process, curriculum development under Mr.
Brooker cannot be easily measured; however, progress was made, and certainly movement
along this line was a needed advance in the right direction.
Unfortunately war conditions brought an acute crisis to the public school system of
Kentucky. The war caused salaries (in most fields other than education) , prices and
costs of living to skyrocket. The severest need of the state's educational system has
been always adequate funds. Educational funds did not appreciably increase with the
other rises caused by the war. Consequently teachers began leaving the schoolroom for
the factory, the plant and the office; county superintendents began finding that their
available dollars would purchase very little; and school plants began to fall into dis-
repair. More than 5,000 of Kentucky's 18,000 teachers quit the profession — and few
blamed them. The average salary for the Kentucky teacher in 1942-1943 was $782 per
year, or $85 per month. Instructors found that maintaining themselves upon salaries
received, with living costs steadily mounting, to be a very difficult matter indeed. They
discovered that they could easily make $1,800 a year working in a war plant or office —
and hundreds changed. In fact, they discovered that waitresses, with no education
whatsoever, were earning more money than they.
With the loss of several thousand teachers, the system suffered. County superintend-
ents had to close many schools, and the State Department began issuing emergency
certificates enabling high school graduates with no teaching experience to teach. In
1943, the Department issued 4,100 of these emergency certificates, and during 1944
it will issue roughly 4,500. Of course, all this confusion, to the child and to the
state is so stupendous and overwhelming that it is palpably incalculable. The war is
not altogether to blame for this devastating crisis. The studied niggardliness of the
3— Vol. II
586 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
public and of the Legislature upon matters of public education for more than a
century is the main cause; the war simply brought the thing to a head.
Governor Keen Johnson sought to improve the situation in 1943 by appropriating
from the Governor's Emergency Fund between $600,000 and $700,000 to supplement
teachers' salaries. Though the idea was good, the amount was not enough — approxi-
mately $3.00 per month increase — not a drop in the bucket!
The Republican Party in its canvass of 1943 pledged support of a $15 per capita, as
did also the Democratic Party. The successful Republicans, true to their promise,
appealed under the leadership of Governor Simeon S. Willis and Superintendent of
Public Instruction, John Fred Williams, to the Legislature for approximately $15,000,000
upon the per capita and equalization basis. So many people had left the state that the
per capita rate actually amounted to $19, by far the largest in the state's history. Though
the amount requested was granted, the fund yet, in the light of present day conditions, is
not large enough. Comparison of the well-educated teacher's salary with that of the
uneducated war plant or factory worker — even the bus or taxi driver — is very sad indeed
for the former. Even though the Kentucky teacher (1944) is receiving a larger
salary than ever before, he (really should be she, because low salaries have practically
driven men from the profession) is not receiving adequate pay.
War conditions, for one thing, have made children restive, so that thousands have
quit school to do other things. The entire school system has come in for acute public
scrutiny and criticism — curriculum, buildings, facilities, seemingly everything but the
teacher (who is himself doing a bit of criticising, fortunately) .
A recent report of the National Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through
Education reveals Kentucky's educational conditions as very unsatisfactory. These are
some of the findings: (1) Per cent of population 25 years of age and over who have
completed four years of college or more — Kentucky with 2.9 per cent ranks forty-
seventh among the states. (2) Percentage of high school graduates — Kentucky with
15.5 per cent ranks forty-eighth. (3) Percentage who have completed one year of
high school or more — Kentucky with 25.2 percent ranks forty-ninth. (4) Percentage
who have completed only the sixth grade or less — Kentucky with 36.1 per cent ranks
thirty-ninth.
Obviously vast reforms need to be made. These are a few things which seem most
obviously to need being achieved:
(1) Twenty- five dollar per capita; (2) a change in the law enabling counties to levy
up to a maximum of $1.50 on each $100 worth of taxable property for school purposes,
so that the rural areas will be, in a measure, on the same footing as city districts;
(3) a minimum of $100 per month per teacher for twelve months — salary on the twelve
months basis; (4) a minimum of nine months of school for every public school in the
state, with each school beginning in September; (5) a more satisfactory arrangement
of the school bus program, with the State Department assuming greater leadership in
the matter — perhaps in time buying, financing and operating them altogether; (6)
Federal aid (the South attempts to educate a larger proportionate group of children
on less per capita money than any other section of the nation; (7) in general a state-
wide campaign for school-community building, progress and uplift, which will inspire the
entire state to a realization of the vast importance of Kentucky's catching up and forg-
ing ahead in education — for the sake of the happiness and well-being of Kentucky in
the years just ahead — is most desirable.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 587
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORMAL SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
COLLEGES
In 1838 when Kentucky was passing legislation to provide for the establishment of
a system of common schools, Massachusetts was establishing her first state school for
the training of teachers. However, the first Superintendent of Public Instruction in
Kentucky, the Rev. Joseph J. Bullock, asked the General Assembly in 1839 to estab-
lish a school or schools for the training of teachers, saying that "in those countries
where education has been carried to the greatest perfection, schools for teachers have
formed an important feature in their systems, and with the best results." But Mr.
Bullock's plea went unheeded by the State Legislature.
Every Superintendent from 1838 to 1906 pled, begged, implored the General As-
semblies to establish normal schools. Even the brilliant Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge
speaking with logic and eloquence, "with the power to move mountains," pled in vain.
In 1856 when Transylvania University was given to the Legislature — money, equipment,
faculty, library, all — to be converted into a state normal school, the General Assembly
accepted reluctantly and made an appropriation only after it was discovered that no
sensible argument against doing so could be found. "No school of similar character
in this country ever commenced . . . under such favorable auspices . . . (yet) the day
of its birth was the day of its manhood." Even though the school was surpassingly
successful and promised a brilliant success in the future, the next General Assembly
with wanton recklessness, demolished their school for teachers by repealing the previous
act, and the friends of public education were plunged into grief once more.
In 1859, Robert Richardson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, said to the Legis-
lature, "Teaching is a profession and, like other professions, must be learned in schools
of a higher grade. ... In deep conviction that schools for teachers are necessary, I
recommend them. . . . Established they must be. We should provide Kentucky teachers
for Kentucky youths, to guard against that degeneracy and decline which will always
threaten us without them."* This recommendation, like others, went unheeded.
Legislators were uninterested. The people were apathetic, and the private schools,
which profited by helping to kill all movements for the state normal schools, were
actively arrayed against such institutions, both at home and at Frankfort.
In 1880 the Normal School Department of the Agricultural and Mechanical College
at Lexington was authorized. "The atmosphere of this institution was not conducive
to develop trained teachers," and it failed to reach any considerable number of
teachers. But the teachers of the department did noble work with what they had.
By 1880 there were many private normal schools, some little better than "old field"
schools and some much better — fine schools with able teachers. Perhaps the out-
standing private normal school in Kentucky at that time was Southern Normal School,
established at Glasgow and moved to Bowling Green in the fall of 1884. This institu-
tion at Bowling Green was known as the Southern Normal School and Business College.
The school after a trying decade was reorganized by two remarkable school men, the
Cherry brothers, H. H. and T. C, and chartered as the Bowling Green Business
College and Literary Institute. After a few years T. C. Cherry became superintendent
of the city school of Bowling Green, in which capacity he has enjoyed a long, honorable
and distinguished career. Henry Hardin Cherry continued as head of the reorganized
Southern Normal School until he became President of the Western Kentucky State
Normal School. So remarkable was H. H. Cherry's career in the training of men
and women that no history of education of Kentucky would be complete without de-
voting a chapter to his life and achievements.
Born in Warren County, Kentucky, one of numerous children, Henry Hardin Cherry
588 A SES QUI -CENTENNIAL
somehow was too restless and ambitious to remain a farm boy. He appeared in
Bowling Green as a lad selling the products of the farm — a slender awkward lad with
long dark hair, yet with strong chin and determined mouth and grey eyes bright with
energy and intelligence. A restless, nervous lad who seemed to have a dream and a
vision. After a few months at the Southern Normal School at Glasgow, H. H. Cherry
knew that it was in the vast world of education that his boundless energy was to be
unloosed. And in a short time he was at Bowling Green salvaging the wreckage of
a shipwrecked school; with not the least doubt but that success would come. "He was
ever a fighter — always one fight more. . . . While he did not fight with a sword, his
office reverberated with the spiritual approximations of martial thunder. . . . Ever a
fighter!" He opened his school at Bowling Green in 1892 with twenty-eight students.
"The teachers taught and starved and waited, but that slender student body merely
signaled the president to go into action. He did. He drove his buggy into every
hamlet in West Central Kentucky. He represented to young men and women whom
he met by the way or called upon in their homes the overwhelming and utter desira-
bility of attending the Southern Normal School. His eyes glowed, and his voice burned
with the zeal of the crusade. It was a contagious zeal, and those twenty-eight grew
and grew. . . . Every time the tuition bulged ahead a bit, he put in another table or
hired another teacher, or tapped another precinct in Louisiana. Anything to push the
Normal's radius out a bit. All this time his brother, T. C, was teaching with might
and main and voice and gesture those whom H. H. brought in. . . . J. R. Alexander
. . . came back to his classroom at the Normal . . . Lewis Harman, the institution's
understudy in penmanship, was performing feats of lyric sweetness with his pen.
Seven o'clock in the morning found students reciting in the classrooms. Classes were
still in action until ten that night."' All of H. H. Cherry's money was invested in
that school. That school was his work, his life, his future. Then in November, 1899,
came the fire destroying everything. It was a sad Henry Hardin Cherry who viewed
the remains of years of hard work. It was a test of the man's character.
But Henry Hardin was not whipped. He determined to build the greatest normal
school in the South. The citizens of Bowling Green "yielded their cooperation under
the spell of the magic of the young president's desperate enthusiasm."' And came
a season of prosperity.
Gradually the conception of the state's obligation to train its teachers gained focus.
H. H. Cherry, an individualist, always sensed the potency of organized action. He
perhaps more than any other man helped to achieve that focus. He was for forty-
five years an active member of the K. E. A. Twice he was its president, and for two
decades he was a director. The Association, meeting in Maysville in 1904, took formal
notice of the state's educational situation in its resolutions. The next meeting, held
at Mammoth Cave, June, 1905, projected the Kentucky Education Improvement Com-
mission. Dr. Cherry was one of the five members of the Commission's Executive Com-
mittee. Then began a campaign, the equal of which the state had not witnessed to that
time, for the establishment of state normal schools for the better training of Kentucky's
teachers. For a century while other states had forged ahead in education, Kentucky's
state superintendents, and friends of public education, had pled to the legislature and
to the people to establish state normal schools, but they had pled in vain. This time
the friends of public education, realizing that Kentucky's children had been for a
century starved and cheated and that, consequently, the state was suffering while
other states forged ahead; these friends made doubly courageous by a realization that
they were fighting for the honor and glory of Kentucky, fighting against the selfish
mechanizations of pseudo-patriots who had throttled the Commonwealth's progress for
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 589
generations — these friends entered the battle for state supported institutions for teacher
training. It became a holy crusade. Poor teachers' organizations raised money. Many
laymen spoke and wrote, and teachers worked unceasingly. They told the sad but
challenging truth that Kentucky was one of the two states of the Union that did
not maintain a system of state normal schools, that there were only three states of
the Union that showed a greater percentage of ignorance among their white population,
that less than one-half of her pupil children were attending any school whatever, that
Kentucky was not keeping pace with other states of the South in the great educational
move sweeping the country, and that public sentiment on educational matters was at
a very low ebb.'"J Rice Eubank and Tom Vinson devoted the columns of the Southern
School Journal to the campaign. Two distinguished laymen, Judge M. C. Saufley,
of Stanford, and Judge W. M. Beckner, of Winchester, wrote and spoke as heroically
as the enlightened patriots of any land. Judge Beckner wrote: "If it be conceded that
properly prepared teachers are necessary to the proper organization of a school system
in Kentucky, the question of normal schools is no longer one of policy. The Legisla-
ture has no discretion in the matter. Our new constitution declares that the 'General
Assembly shall by appropriate legislation provide for an efficient system of common
schools throughout the state.' Can the system be 'efficient' when its chief cornerstone
has been left out?" Newspapers and magazines issued broadside after broadside;
speakers took the stump; members of the General Assembly were swamped with
memorials. James H. Fuqua, Superintendent of Public Instruction, seldom rested.
H. H. Cherry's "eleven hundred" sent a petition.
Hon. Richard W. Miller, Representative from Madison County, introduced the bill
to establish the state normal schools. Then began righteus lobbying. Hon. Jere A.
Sullivan, Hon. Rodes Shackelford, and Judge Anthony R. Burnam came to Frankfort
from Richmond. Judge Louis McQuown and H. H. Cherry came from Bowling Green;
Judge John M. Lassing from Covington. Governor J. C. W. Beckham was favorable.
The bill passed; it provided for two state normal schools. Richmond and Bowling
Green were selected as the sites. The noble educator, Rurick Neville Roark, was
chosen president of the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School at Richmond and
H. H. Cherry of Western Kentucky State Normal School at Bowling Green. The
great battle had been won, after a century of desperate fighting. All hail to those who
refused to be beaten!
At Bowling Green on the Hill the years came and passed. Each year something
new was begun and something was completed on the old Hill. Thousands of lives were
quickened when they came, and the thousands who left went to hundreds of commu-
nities throughout the Southland to impart the larger vision to the thousands of others.
The day came when the Hill was crowned with magnificent structures of steel, brick
and marble.
On a beautiful June day when the air was sweet with the fragrance from trees and
blossoms and flowers, hundreds of bright, eager young people, their faces radiant with
health, intelligence and ambition waited in the Chapel. It was commencement day.
On the stage, dignified, impressive, stood the well-known and beloved man, Henry
Hardin Cherry. The light shining through the windows revealed his fine, strong
patrician features; a bit grey, a bit sad, but the chin and mouth were still strong and
noble and the eyes were bright. His work was almost finished. He had fought the
good fight; he had ever been a fighter, and he had won. He had found thousands
struggling blindly at the foot of the "Hill" and had helped them to the top — there to
find life. He stood for a moment looking into the eager young faces. Perhaps his
thoughts went back a half century when the old Hill was a wilderness. Perhaps he
590 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
thought of his early struggle to get an education. Now the Hill was full. No longer
would the struggle be so hard. His countenance lighted, and he began talking the
same simple words of wisdom, but words which those who have heard will never forget.
He was not merely talking to the students of Western, but to all the teachers' colleges:
' rMy boy, give good measure.' These are the words of a noble father when he
spoke to his boy who had gathered a load of apples and was ready to start to market
to sell them. He took a half-bushel pail and filled it to the rim and told the boy that
was not good measure. He put on apples until they were above the rim and rolled
off, at the same time admonishing the boy to give that kind of measure. 'That other
thing' is the thing above the rirn. It is the plus of the soul. It is the plus in demo-
cratic education and in democracy. It is the plus in the life of every great teacher. It
is the spirit of good measure and a square deal that holds the civic, social, and indus-
trial world together and gives every human being a chance to live, a chance to grow,
and an opportunity to enjoy the blessings of life. It makes the home, builds and
maintains the church, supports the schools, establishes libraries, endows hospitals,
feeds the hungry, and promotes every effort that advances humanity."
The normal schools and teachers' colleges have not only improved teaching in Ken-
tucky, but they have made possible college attendance of thousands who otherwise could
not have advanced above high school graduation. Although they have brought the
vision of greater service, of fuller scholarship, of the more abundant life to thousands,
their work has just begun.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
Following the glorious period of Transylvania during which time Dr. Holley was
president, higher education in Kentucky slipped from the control of the state to
religious denominations. The last quarter of the eighteenth and first half of the
nineteenth centuries were years in which the people of the various religious denomina-
tions took the tenets of their sects as among the most serious things in life, and any
change in an educational institution which might smack slightly of a departure from
a particular sect's belief would cause that body to busy itself with plans for building
an educational institution more to its liking. Thus the Presbyterians, who had been
largely instrumental in establishing Transylvania Seminary and University, because
of a slight departure from accepted Presbyterian policy, secured, in 1819, a charter
for Centre College. Although a state school at first, Centre College was taken over by
the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky in 1830, and then began that long period of
distinction which has made Centre College respected at home and honored abroad.
This small ivy-covered college of the Youngs and the Breckinridges has had a history
more unique in some respects than any college in the nation. But the other denomina-
tional colleges — Georgetown, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, Transylvania, and Wesleyan —
are to be accorded high praise for noble service and for a rich production of distin-
guished men. And to this group of colleges, distinguished for meritorious service,
may be added the name Berea — a school founded upon the idea of complete freedom,
democracy and opportunity. The day will never come in Kentucky when Kentuckians
will cease to honor and revere the great names — Young, Breckinridge, Green, Flaget,
Priestly, Batson, Weber, Malcolm, Campbell, Dudley, Fee, Rogers, Frost, Bowman,
McGarry and the hundreds of distinguished men who caught their inspiration from
them.
After many vicissitudes during which she was buffeted between State Legislature and
religious denominations, Transylvania passed in 1865 to the control of the Disciples
of Christian Church, and seemingly the restless, fitful idea of a great state university
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 591
passed into a quiet and long sleep. Alas, Kentucky legislatures, that they had been
so niggardly, so unkind. Noble Transylvania! Conceived by our beloved mother,
Virginia, and dedicated by the daring pioneers who had conquered the wilderness.
Transylvania, where bloomed the genius of Dudley and matured the talents of Holley,
in whose classic halls had echoed the fire of Bascom and the eloquence of Clay. Here
was the most magnificent university of the West; starved to an early decline by
unsympathetic legislatures and sectarian strife and cut oif an orphan to be taken in
by a kindly church. May Kentuckians of future generations study the story and never
cease to revere noble Transylvania.
The idea of a state college revived somewhat following the passage of the Morrell
Act by the Federal Government in 1862. By this act Kentucky was the beneficiary of
330,000 acres of land. Yet the state authorities showed neither an appreciation for
the possibilities of a great state institution of higher learning nor business acumen,
because the new Agricultural and Mechanical College made possible by the nation's
generous grant, was established as one of the colleges of Kentucky University at
Lexington, a denominational school recently transferred from Harrodsburg and united
with Transylvania, and the huge grant of land was disposed of for $165,000. An
amount per acre of almost fifty cents less than the minimum price per acre fixed by
the Federal Government in 1785 and 1787. This shameful disposal of land for a
mere pittance was as deplorable as the wanton dissipation of the old seminary grants.
The apostasy of numerous political servants to education through the course of Ken-
tucky's history looms large in practically every chapter.
From 1865, the date of the founding of the A. and M. College, there was factional
strife until in 1878 the General Assembly severed the connection with Kentucky
University, appointing a commission to re-locate the college. "Kentucky University
claiming and retaining the former site of the college; the sole property of the latter
after the severance was an income of $9,900 derived from the land grant."'
The city of Lexington offered inducements for the location of the college and in
1880 it was permanently located in that city. The same year a Normal Department
was added to the college and a general tax of one-half cent on each hundred dollars
of assessed value of all property in the state liable to taxation and belonging to white
inhabitants was levied for the support of this state school. In 1880 also were added
the Classical Department and the Academy.
About this time there burst into flame embers which had smoldered and burned at
intervals for a century. It was the old controversy between the friends of denomina-
tional-controlled institutions of higher learning and the friends of a state system of
higher education. President James K. Patterson of the A. and M. College, feeling that
his program for the expansion of his school to a state university was being thwarted
by the partisans of the denominational colleges, published a letter in the Courier-
Journal, December 11, 1881, stating very strongly the issue, presenting his program,
and indicting the influences which impeded progress to a great state university. Dr.
Patterson's dream was to build from the modest beginning of the A. and M. College
a university at public expense — a university to prepare men for every calling and pro-
fession of life, including "Law, medicine and theology." A school for every young
man of the state, whether rich or poor, who desired an education. He envisaged an
institution of higher learning comparable to Harvard. Yet he was conscious that in-
fluences were working at the General Assembly to deprive his college even of the small
appropriation which was necessary for bare existence, and conscious, too, of the fact
that reports were being spread about indicting him as an enemy of the clergy and of
the forces of righteousness — and there were thousands who were ready to believe.
592 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Fortunately, fighting on the side of Dr. Patterson was that picturesque Kentuckian,
Henry Watterson, and in and out in fair weather and foul were those champions of
state-supported education, Judge William M. Beckner and Judge W. T. Lafferty.
In spite of heart-breaking obstacles Dr. Patterson was not defeated. Year after
year the appropriations increased, the national government helped; the school grew.
At this point the author feels that the story of the development and progress of
the University of Kentucky should be carried forward by the eminent educator, Dr.
M. E. Yigon, of the College of Education of the University. Dr. Ligon has written
an excellent sketch of that school's history. A large part of that sketch is here quoted
b» 59
atim."
The reorganization of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky as the
State University is significant in the history of education in Kentucky. First, the
reorganization was coincident with the reorganization of the state public school system
and the establishment of rural high schols in every county. Second, it marked the
close of the educational career of President Patterson. Third, the state had established
two normal schools in 1906. Fourth, the violent opposition of the private colleges to
the support of the college by the state had almost disappeared.
The transition of the Agricultural and Mechanical College to the status of a state
university was gradual. The University was administered by a board of trustees in
the same manner as the college had been, in fact, by the same persons. Changes in
the constituency of the board were made from time to time in much the same way as
they had been made during the life of the college. In 1916, when the name of State
University was changed to the University of Kentucky, the commissioner of agriculture
and seven members of the State Board of Agriculture were made members of the board
of trustees. In 1918 the president of the institution and the seven members of the
State Board of Agriculture were dropped from the list of members ex officio, leaving
the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and the commissioner of agri-
culture as members ex officio. Six additional members were added to a board of fifteen
in 1914. The board was reduced to fifteen members in 1916 and further reduced to
twelve in 1918. In 1914 the number of alumni on the board was increased from four
to six members. In 1916 the number of appointive members was fixed at fifteen of
which one-fifth were to be appointed from persons who had attended the institution.
In 1918 the number of appointive members was reduced to twelve, of which one-fourth
must be alumni. The length of term for appointive members was six years. The board
in 1922 was composed of the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and
the commissioner of agriculture as members ex officio and twelve citizens of the state.
Four members were to be appointed each biennium for a term of six years. One of the
four must be a member of the State Board of Agriculture, one an alumnus of the
institution and two distinguished citizens.
In 1915 the number of board members constituting the executive committee was
increased to seven, three of whom were to be graduates of the institution. This
number was reduced to five in 1918. The functions of the executive committee con-
tinued to be about the same as they had been in the administration of the Agricultural
and Mechanical College.
On June 4, 1908, President Patterson delivered the commencement address of the
University. In that address he gave a very good overview of the institution at that
time, as follows:
The city and county gave the grounds and the money in 1880 for the erection of buildings.
Since then additional buildings have been added, until now, instead of two, there are fourteen
buildings upon the college campus, with the prospect of two more during the present biennial
period. The equipment for mechanical and electrical engineering is the best south of the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 593
Ohio River. The departments of chemistry, physics, botany, biology, geology, anatomy, and
physiology, languages ancient and modern, meta-physics, ethics and physical culture, are second
to none in the South. The faculty of instruction numbers nearly fifty persons. The heads of
departments rank among the ablest in the country, while the majority of the assistants are
developing a talent for instruction, which places them in the line of promotion. In the mean-
time, 250 acres of land have been bought for experimental purposes, representing an actual
outlay of about $100,000, and an actual present valuation of a£>out $130,000. The college
campus, with buildings and equipment, represents about $850,000.
The work of the reorganization of the Agricultural and Mechanical College took
place during the spring and summer of 1908. The several departments were grouped
and each group was designated as a college. The liberal arts subjects were continued
in one college, which was rechristened the College of Arts and Sciences. John Henry
Neville, Professor of Greek and Latin, was appointed the first Dean. The departments
of agriculture were brought together as the College of Agriculture under the direction
of Clarence W. Mathews, Professor of horticulture and botany, as Dean. The subjects
of civil engineering were grouped as the College of Civil Engineering, and Walter E.
Rowe was appointed Dean. F. Paul Anderson was made Dean of the College of
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. A College of Mining Engineering was organ-
ized and Charles J. Norwood was appointed Dean. The General Assembly in the Act
of 1908 gave the department of education collegiate rank. Dr. L. F. Snow was made
Dean of this department, but it does not appear that a separate college was organized.
Judge W. T. Lafferty, a member of the board of trustees and a practicing lawyer of
Cynthiana, was appointed Dean of the new College of Law. The State Experiment
Station was changed very little by the reorganization. These colleges and the Station
will be discussed briefly in the following pages.
In his report to the General Assembly for the biennium, 1907-09, President Patterson
pointed out the functions of the University, as follows:
Since the college has become a university, it may be well to inquire what the distinction
between college and university work may be. Stated in general terms, the function of the
college is to teach, the function of the university is to discover. Collegiate instruction consists
mainly in communicating to students the contents of knowledge or discovery verified and ac-
cepted. The function of the university, on the other hand, is to extend the boundaries of human
knowledge, to proceed from the known to the unknown, using the former as the basis for the
discovery of truth. Research then may be described as the characteristic of university work,
but under existing conditions, in all the universities of America, except Johns Hopkins, collegiate
work is carried on concurrently with university work proper. Freshman, Sophomore, Junior
and Senior classes are maintained, but after undergraduate courses have been completed, those
who elect to remain enter upon university work proper.
The special work then of the University is to uplift and to develop the educational interests
of the Commonwealth. The inspiration must come from above, not from below. The aim
of the University is and must be to improve and to perfect as far as practicable the high
schools of the Commonwealth, and through them to improve the education of the common
schools. An improved common school will therefore be the guarantee of a well-developed
and well-equipped high school, and a high school well organized, with a high standard of
graduation will provide annually in increasing numbers a large supply of well-equipped
matriculates for collegiate and university work.
These are fitting words with which President Patterson closed his last report to the
General Assembly. He had rounded out forty years as president of the college that
had been and of the University that was to be. He was in his seventy-eighth year at
the time of writing this report. In June, 1909, some months preceding this report, he
had given notice to the board of trustees of his intention to retire. There is no note
of sadness or regret in his report. It is in the same vigorous and comprehensive style
of his former reports. He gave a vision of what the University was to become with
a clarity that leads the reader to feel that the grand old President was to have a part
in its consummation.
President Patterson retired from the activities of the presidency on January 15, 1910.
594 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
James G„ White, Professor of Mathematics and Physics since 1880, was made acting
president and served in this capacity from January, 1910, to January, 1911. In his
communication of June, 1909, to the board, announcing his intention to retire, Presi-
dent Patterson described the type of man whom he preferred to have succeed him.
This description follows:
I should like to see selected a man abler than myself, well educated, with a mind sym-
metrically developed, not a specialist in any direction, but a man of views sufficiently large
to promote the growth of the institution along co-extensive lines, giving due and proper
encouragement to every department and every college of the University, yet showing special
favor to none. I should like my successor to be a man of proved executive and administrative
ability, of good personal presence, prolific in thought and facile in expression, able to defend
th'e institution from whatever point assailed and able to take aggressive measures in its
behalf, without unnecessarily ruffling the susceptibilities of those whom he opposes. He should,
moreover, be a man of high moral character, with a reverent attitude toward things sacred and
divine, not necessarily a churchman, but in sympathy with the religious beliefs and aspirations
of Christianity.
The board appointed a committee composed of Henry S. Barker, Claude B. Terrell,
Tibbis Carpenter, Richard C. Stoll, and President Patterson to recommend a successor.
Later Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, President of the Carnegie Foundation, was asked to
assist the committee in finding a successor to President Patterson. On February 3, 1910,
the board elected Judge Henry S. Barker, one of their own number, President of the
University. At the time of his election, Judge Barker was a member of the Court of
Appeals of Kentucky. He was fifty-nine years old and had practiced law since 1874.
He had held successively the offices of city attorney of Louisville, Judge of Jefferson
County Circuit Court, and Judge of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. He had
been a member of the board of trustees for eleven years, and had been considered a
faithful and outstanding friend of the University.
The election of Judge Barker distressed President Patterson. They had been warm
friends for many years, but President Patterson could not reconcile himself to the fact
that a university man had not been chosen for the presidency. In a letter to Governor
Augustus Willson, prior to Judge Barker's election, he gave his frank opinion of
Judge Barker's qualifications for the office, as follows:
He is not a graduate of any institution — either college or university — and this, in my opinion,
constitutes an essential disqualification for the office. . . . He has had no experience whatever
in collegiate or university organization or administration. Nowadays, men who aspire to high
positions in educational institutions have, without exception, so far as known to me, been gradu-
ates of colleges or universities of high standing; they have done graduate work at some
institution such as Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins or Princeton; and, in addition thereto,
they have spent years abroad in order to qualify themselves for responsible positions in Uni-
versity life. Moreover, they have, almost without exception, risen through assistant professor-
ships, headships of departments and deans of courses of study to the headship of a University.
These qualifications, you will readily see, are wholly lacking in Judge Barker; and in my
estimation, no other qualities, however excellent, can compensate for the lack of these.
The election of Judge Barker was the beginning of an estrangement between these
friends that was never repaired. Upon his retirement President Patterson was made
President Emeritus with the honor of sitting as a member of the board of trustees
without the right to vote. Furthermore, he was permitted to occupy the president's
house on the campus. These intimate contacts gave President Emeritus Patterson an
advantageous position for observing the work of his successor. He was in intimate
contact with members of the faculty, some of whom imparted to him the administrative
policies of Judge Barker. The campus gossip resulting from this intimate critical
evaluation of the new president and his policies tended to develop an unhealthy internal
administrative atmosphere which was stifling.
Judge Barker's experience had been obtained in the field of law as it applied to the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 595
problems of society. This experience had developed in him traits of magnanimity,
generosity, charitableness, justice, and democracy found in few administrators. He
assumed office January 1, 1911. At once he placed all administrative officers at ease
by delegating to them authority to carry forward the work of their offices unmolested.
This policy was in direct opposition to the policy of President Patterson. The officers
became intoxicated by their new freedom. Jealousies developed between departments,
between colleges, and among individuals. The president's generosity and his lack of
experience in dealing with these university problems prevented his coordinating the
internal administrative and instructional forces of the University into one great whole.
The administration of President Barker is not marked by any outstanding accomplish-
ments. The income of the University remained practically the same throughout this
period. The total number of students increased from 803 in 1911 to 1,445 in 1916.
During this same period the faculty increased from 72 to 100 members. An addition
to the Experiment Station building was completed. The academy or preparatory school
was abolished, and college entrance was fixed at fifteen Carnegie units earned in an
accredited secondary school. The name of the institution was changed in 1916 from
State University, Lexington, Kentucky, to University of Kentucky. Agricultural Ex-
tension Work received great impetus by the passage of the Smith-Lever Act by the
Federal Congress. . . . The registrar's office and the business office were expanded and
developed in accord with modern practices in university administration.
President Barker was unable to develop a smooth-working organization of the Uni-
versity. Discontent among the alumni, the student body, and the general public de-
veloped toward the administration. The discontent became so great that the board of
trustees passed a resolution in December, 1916, authorizing the chairman to appoint a
committee of non-resident trustees to investigate the causes of discontent and the ex-
pediency of consolidating the colleges of mechanical and civil engineering. The scope
of the investigation was to include the Experiment Station and the University proper.
The committee employed Dr. Kendrick C. Babcock, Dean of the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois, Dr. Thomas F. Kane, President of
Olivet College, and Charles M. McConn, Registrar of the University of Illinois, to
make the investigation. This commission completed its work during the spring of 1917,
and the committee under whose direction the investigation had been made reported the
findings and recommendations to the board in June, 1917.
The survey report was thorough and frank in stating the conditions of the adminis-
tration and organization of the University. It covered such subjects as administrative
policies, internal organization, academic standards, the faculty, efficiency in adminis-
tration, and the University in its relation to the state. The recommendations were
concise, clear, and unequivocal. The report covered the personnel, appointments, legis-
lation, plans for the campus, the Peabody fund, administration, publication of the
board's minutes, the plant, and the executive committee. All of the recommendations
of this report were adopted except the one relating to the immediate removal from the
campus of President Patterson, President Emeritus.
The first recommendation of this report called for the retirement of President Barker.
This recommendation was based not upon the mistakes of the president in his admin-
istration but upon the things he had left undone.
And the reason he has omitted to do the things he has left undone is because he did not see
what needed to be done. Being outside his own field, he could not interpret situations or
handle them. . . .
We feel distinctly that Judge Barker has been grievously sinned against in this matter. So
far as we can learn he did not seek the position in any way, but on the contrary persistently
disclaimed either desire of fitness for it, and resisted for many months the pressure brought
596 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
upon him by misguided friends to accept it. He has brought to an impossible situation — that of
being the captain of a ship without ever having studied navigation — a largeness of soul, a
devotion to his duty so far as he was able to see it, a loyalty to his friends and a charity for
his enemies which are beyond praise. He has, moreover, a charm of personality that makes
scores of people who now believe he should retire regard him nevertheless with sincere affection.
He has succeeded but meagerly in the impossible task which he understood ; but if he has failed,
it is with honor.
This report recommended further that the chairman of the board of trustees be
authorized and directed to appoint a committee consisting of four members of the board
and three of the University faculty to nominate a new president. This committee was
to consider such professional qualifications as had been specified in the report.
In response to this recommendation Governor A. O. Stanley, Chairman of the board
of trustees, appointed Richard C. Stoll of Lexington, Frank M. McKee of Versailles,
J. Irvine Lyle of New York, and Robert G. Gordon of Louisville, members of the
board, to serve on the committee to nominate a president. The faculties of the College
of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture, and the College of Engineering elected
Paul P. Boyd, George Roberts, and W. E. Freeman, respectively, to places on this
committee. Mr. Stoll served as chairman. This committee entered upon its duties at
once and presented its report to the board of trustees August 15, 1917. The committee
recommended unanimously Dr. Frank LeRond McVey, President of the University of
North Dakota, as a suitable person for the presidency of the University of Kentucky.
The report of the committee was adopted unanimously by the board.
On July 18, 1917, the executive committee of the board of trustees elected Dr. Paul
Boyd, Head of the Department of Mathematics, Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences. He was "empowered to act as Chief Executive of the University in the
absence of President Barker, and that he exercise all powers and perform all duties
imposed upon the President during such absence, but the said executive powers hereby
conferred shall cease upon the installation of a regular successor to President Henry S.
Barker." He served in the capacity outlined in this section until September 14, 1917.
He carried on the correspondence of the office of president, completed the faculty for
1917-18, assisted the several deans in the solution of their problems, planned for the
opening of school in September, supervised the registration of students, and per-
formed the duties of his office as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. McVey accepted the presidency of the University and assumed the duties of
that office on September 14, 1917. He possessed in a splendid way the qualifications
outlined by the report of the Survey Commission. He had attended the public schools
of Toledo, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa. He had earned his baccalaureate degree at
Ohio Wesleyan University, and pursued his graduate work at Yale University where
he had earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1895. At Yale he had specialized
in the field of economics. In 1910 Ohio Wesleyan had conferred upon him the degree
of Doctor of Laws. He had served one year, 1895-96, as instructor in history, Teachers
College, Columbia University. From 1896 to 1907 he had been instructor, assistant
professor, and professor of economics in the University of Minnesota. In 1907 he had
resigned his position in the University to become the first chairman of the State Tax
Commission in Minnesota. In 1909 he had been elected president of the University
of North Dakota, in which capacity he had served until he came to the presidency of
the State University of Kentucky.
In addition to his training and experience, Dr. McVey was a member of the principal
learned societies and associations of America in his fields of work. In several of these
he had served as the presiding officer or secretary. He was author of many magazine
articles and several books. Prior to his coming to Kentucky, his best known works
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 597
were the Populist Movement, published in 1896; History and Government of Minne-
sota, 1901; Modern Industrialism, 1904; Transportation, 1910; The Making of a Town,
1913; Economics of Business, 1917. At the time of his coming to Kentucky he had
in course of preparation The Financial History of Great Britain, which was completed
in 1918. He brought to the presidency of the University scholarly attainment and a
broad, thorough knowledge of university problems.
The board of trustees was committed to the policies embodied in the report of the
Survey Commission. Dr. McVey's task was to reduce these policies to administrative
machinery. He began his work by leading the faculty in the construction and adoption
of a constitution for the University. This constitution outlined the organization of
the University; defined the duties of the president; designated the constituency of the
council, senate, and assembly, and denned the duties of the deans, the faculties of
the several colleges, and of the departmental staffs. The duties of the Dean of Men,
the Dean of Women, the Director of the Summer Session, the Dean of the Graduate
School, the Registrar, the Business Agent, the Librarian, and the Superintendent of
Buildings and Grounds were set out in some detail. The conditions of appointments,
promotions, removals, terms of employment, tenure, and leave of absence were defined.
This instrument enabled each member of the staff to orient himself with reference to
every other member. This constitution was followed by a similar instrument prepared
by the board of trustees for the organization and conduct of its business. These
documents have been potent factors in the development of cooperation and good will
among the entire staff of the University.
The coming of Dr. McVey to the University marked the beginning of a period of
expansion. This expansion has been symetrical along all lines. Funds for the support
of the institution have been increased. Buildings have been added and the grounds
have been landscaped. The number of students has increased four-fold. The staff
has been nearly trebled. The graduate school has grown from a very small enrollment
to 797 students. The number of volumes in the library has been more than trebled.
The College of Education and the College of Commerce have been organized.
The income of the University is drawn from the state, from the federal government,
from tuition fees, and from miscellaneous sources. The state has provided for the
support of the University by a property tax, a special tax, and special appropriations.
The University has received a portion of the taxes derived from property since 1917.
The amount from this source has increased from year to year as the property of the
state has increased in value. Since the passage of the law levying a tax upon property
transferred by inheritance, the University has received a definite portion of this tax.
At present the University receives one-half of the taxes collected from this source.
From time to time the General Assembly has made special appropriations to the Uni-
versity for the purchase of lartd, the erection of buildings, and the purchase of equip-
ment.
The federal government has assisted the state in the support of the University since
it was established. The state had paid the University semi-annually six per cent on
$165,000, the amount received from the sale of the land scrip appropriated by the
federal government in 1862. The Hatch Act passed by the Federal Congress in 1887
appropriated $15,000 annually for the purpose of assisting the state in the maintenance
of the State Agricultural Experiment Station. This annual appropriation was increased
in 1906. Further appropriations were made in the Smith-Lever Act of 1916 and the
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917.
A small tuition fee has been charged each year upon enrollment. The fee has been
increased from time to time as the demands upon the resources of the University have
598 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
increased. A small income annually has been received from miscellaneous sources. This
amount has been derived from sales and service fees of the Experiment Station, gifts,
and other minor sources.
The buildings of the University have been erected from time to time as the need
arose. They have been constructed of brick and trimmed with stone. In the beginning
there was no comprehensive planning in the placement of buildings. The campus was
spacious, and the first buildings were placed where they would appear to best advantage
and where they would be most convenient at the time, without due consideration for
the placement of future buildings. No uniform style of architecture was adopted.
The whims of the architect and of others in authority are displayed in each building.
The lack of plans for the placement of these buildings and of uniformity of design
has made it difficult to landscape the campus in more recent years. About the best
that can be said for these old buildings is that they are habitable.
Eighteen buildings occupied the main campus in 1917 at the time the survey of the
University was made. No superintendent of buildings and grounds had been provided.
The Survey Commission recommended the appointment of such an officer. In accord-
ance with this recommendation the board of trustees appointed A. O. Whipple of the
University of North Dakota to this position. Mr. Whipple assumed the duties of his
office April 1, 1918. The repair of buildings, the organization of the janitorial service,
the improvement of the grounds, superintending the erection of new buildings, and the
general oversight of the buildings and grounds were some of the major duties of this
new department of the administration of the business of the University. Mr. Whipple
continued in the service of the University until February 1, 1925. During his admin-
istration five new buildings and the stadium were completed; one building was pur-
chased; and two buildings were under construction at the time of his resignation. He
was succeeded by Maury J. Crutcher. Mr. Crutcher has served the University to the
present time. During his administration ten new buildings have been completed and one
has been purchased; walks and driveways have been built; trees and shrubs have been
planted. The Department of Buildings and Grounds has become an indispensable
division of the administration of the University.
The act establishing the Agricultural and Mechanical College restricted the num-
ber of students who could enter the college to three properly prepared pupils for each
representative in the General Assembly. In 1878 the appointments were further re-
stricted to one pupil each year for each representative. These appointees received
tuition, matriculation fees, room rent, fuel and lights, and traveling expenses. The
plan of appointment was further modified in 1908. Each county in the state was
entitled to select one or more students, one for every three thousand of the population
and one for each fraction thereof over fifteen hundred, based on the official census.
This method of making appointments always gave the college two groups of students —
those receiving instruction free and those paying tuition. The provisions of the law
of 1908 continued in operation until 1917 when the court declared the law unconstitu-
tional. Since that time all students of the state have been admitted on the payment of
a small incidental fee. This fee has become known as a payment of tuition.
A need for advanced work leading to the master's degree was sensed by the faculty
in 1879, and requirements were given for earning the degree. The administration of
this advanced work was conducted by the faculty, guided by that member of the faculty
under whom the candidate did his major work. This method of administering the work
resulted eventually in the appointment of a graduate committee. In 1911 Professor
Alexander St. Clair Mackenzie, Head of the Department of English, was appointed
Dean of the Graduate School. The requirements for the master's degree were revised
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 599
and requirements were set up for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Professor
Mackenzie resigned from the faculty in 1916. After his resignation the work of the
Graduate School was administered by a committee. In 1924 Dr. Edward Wiest was
appointed Acting Dean of the Graduate School. He served in this capacity for one
year. In 1925 Dr. W. D. Funkhouser was appointed Dean of the Graduate School, in
which capacity he serves at the present time. In 1927 the University Senate recom-
mended that graduate work leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy be offered
in the fields of chemistry, education, economics, mathematics, physics, and psychology.
Since that time the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has been granted to several can-
didates. The enrollment in the graduate school has grown from 155 in 1924-25 to 625
in 1930. The Graduate School is now on a good, sound basis and the work done in
this school is equal to that done in other state universities.
The development of the University library has been a slow process of evolution.
There was no central library until 1909. Prior to this date the library facilities consisted
of collections of books in the several departments of the institution. Small amounts
of money were appropriated from time to time for the purchase of books. The books
were not catalogued and there was no librarian. Such books as the several departments
added were placed in offices or classrooms of the departments and used there. If books
were lent, they were dispensed by professors. United States Government documents
were placed in the administrative offices in the Administration Building. This method
of administering the library continued until 1909.
In 1906 Mr. Andrew Carnegie gave the University $20,000 with which to erect a
library building on the campus. In June, 1907, Mr. Carnegie made an additional gift
of $6,500, making a grand total of $26,500. The building was completed and dedi-
cated on November 24, 1909. Dr. Henry S. Pritchett delivered the dedicatory address.
The books belonging to the several departments were transferred to this building, and
during the school year of 1912-13 the books were catalogued and the library service
was organized. The Survey Committee of 1917 said: "Perhaps there is no part of
the University where improvements are more urgently needed. In the first place the
number of volumes for a university with the departments of work developed that are
found at the University of Kentucky is very small, 15,000 volumes in the general
library. At that time the annual appropriations to the library were between three and
four thousand dollars annually.
In 1917, when Dr. McVey became president, the number of volumes reported was
36,201 and the amount expended that year was about $2,600. At once he enlarged the
staff and increased the annual budget for the library. Under his encouragement the
library outgrew the Carnegie library building. Plans for a new building were approved
September 20, 1928. This building was completed during the spring of 1931 and was
occupied in June of that year. It was formally dedicated October 23, 1931. Dr.
John H. Finley, associate editor of the New York Times, delivered the dedicatory
address.
The new building and equipment cost approximately $450,000. Stacks give space for
more than half a million books. Eighty-four cubicles for the use of faculty members
and graduate students are located in the stacks. Five spacious reading rooms are pro-
vided in this building, one each for the reference books, reserved books, periodicals,
material for graduate students, and browsing room. The third floor consists of a
mezzanine on the east side of the building. In this part of the building are located
the classrooms, workrooms, and equipment for the classes in library science. On the
fourth floor are located the graduate reading room and twelve seminar or conference
rooms for use of graduate classes. Ample space throughout the building is provided for
600 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
workrooms and offices for the administrative staff. This building is planned in such
a manner that an addition may be made to it when the growth of the University
requires it. The law library and the library of the Experiment Station are independent
of the general library.
A brief history of the University such as this chapter affords would not be complete
without a brief account of the organization and administration of the Agricultural
Experiment Station. In 1885 the executive committee of the board of trustees author-
ized the establishment of an agricultural experiment station as a department of the
Agricultural and Mechanical College. Professor Melville Amasa Scovell, Superin-
tendent of the United States Experiment Station at Ottawa, Kansas, was elected di-
rector of the Station and took up his duties in November of that year. He held the
degrees of Bachelor and Master of Science from the University of Illinois. He came
to Kentucky with good training and experience for his work, having served his alma
mater as instructor, assistant professor, and professor from 1875 to 1884.
He organized the work of the Station in the basement of the Administration Building,
then the only classroom building on the campus. Analyses of fertilizers, milks, waters,
feeds, and soils were some of the first services planned by the Station. In April, 1886,
Governor J. Proctor Knott approved an act of the General Assembly for the regulation
of the sale of fertilizers. This act recognized the Experiment Station established by
the Agricultural and Mechanical College as the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment
Station. Since that time the Experiment Station of the college and the Kentucky
Agricultural Experiment Station have been one and the same station. In 1889 the
first Experiment Station building was completed and occupied. The work was carried-
forward in this building for a period of sixteen years. In 1905 a new building was
completed and occupied. Seven years later an addition to this building was erected.
The work of the Station at this time is conducted in this building. Professor Scovell
directed the work of the Station until his death in 1912, a period of twenty-seven years.
He saw the work grow from modest beginnings in the basement of the administration
building to an organization of nine departments.
Dr. Scovell was succeeded by Dr. Joseph Hoeing Kastle, Head of the Department
of Chemical Research of the Station. He was an alumnus of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College, and had earned the Doctor's degree at Johns Hopkins University.
His administration was cut short by his death in 1916. Upon the death of Dr.
Kastle, Professor Alfred M. Peters, Chief Chemist of the Department of Chemistry,
was made acting director of the Station, and served in this capacity until January 1,
1918. He was succeeded by Thomas Poe Cooper, Director of the Agricultural Experi-
ment Station of North Dakota. Mr. Cooper has served continuously in this capacity
until the present time. Under his administration the Station has extended its influence
throughout the state to all phases of production on the farm.
In the course of its development the Station has acquired a farm of 562.5 acres
adjoining the main campus of the University. This land is used for the production
of crops and for experimentation in soil management, in crop production, in horticulture,
in poultry, in the production of livestock, in dairying, and in storing and marketing.
For these purposes the farm is equipped with modern farm machinery, buildings, and
appliances for carrying forward the work of the Station. The farm has buildings,
valued at $450,582, adapted to its needs. These buildings contain equipment and stored
materials valued at $92,023. The land was formerly in the suburban area of Lexington,
but is now almost surrounded by residential sections of the city.
Research, teaching, and extension are the three major divisions of the activities of
the Station. Under the Act of the General Assembly authorizing the reorganization
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 601
of the college as a university, the College of Agriculture was organized in 1908. The
administration of this college was placed in the hands of a dean separate and distinct
from the director of the Station. The primary function of the college was the organ-
ization and teaching of curricula in agriculture, and that of the Station was research
and extension. It became apparent that under this plan of organization the best results
could not be obtained. In order that there might be unity of purpose and of cooperation
in agricultural instruction, the College of Agriculture was placed under the administra-
tion of the Director of the Station. Since that time the administrative officer of the
agricultural division of the University has been known as the Director of the Agri-
cultural Experiment Station and the Dean of the College of Agriculture. Under this
plan of organization the Director of the Station can administer the whole program of
agricultural education to the advantage of all members of the staff, the students, and
the citizens of the state. Some members of the staff teach in the college, some conduct
research in the laboratories of the Station, and others work in both divisions. This ar-
rangement places the experimental farm and all of its equipment at the disposal of all
members of the staff.
Since the coming of Dr. McVey to the University, two colleges have been organized.
The College of Education was organized in 1923. The history of this college is treated
elsewhere in this narrative. The College of Commerce was organized in 1925. Dr.
Edward Wiest, then Acting Dean of the Graduate School and Head of the Department
of Economics and Sociology, was made Dean, in which capacity he still serves. This
college "aims to train young men and women for business careers and also to provide
instruction intended to give an understanding of the general aspects of economic relation-
ships." Several curricula leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Commerce
have been organized. Three of these curricula are general business, commercial-law
and secretarial training. The enrollment in this college has increased from year to year.
A strong faculty has been built up and the college is now in position to meet the de-
mands made upon it by the people of the state.
The University is a creature of the state. It has been subject to the wishes of the
General Assembly. At times the friends of the institution have had to meet strong
opposition. The General Assembly has succeeded in maintaining the University and
the University has responded in service to the state. The financial support given by the
state has not been generous. The University is now in the throes of a financial de-
pression and the method of financing the institution is not well adapted to meet the
conditions. The future of the University is assured but its progress will be slowed down
for some years. (End of Professor Ligon's statement.)
ESTABLISHING MURRAY AND MOREHEAD TEACHERS COLLEGES
John Wesley Carr's Recollections of Murray State Teachers College
(An unpublished history, 1944)
The Kentucky Educational Commission submitted its report to Governor Edwin
P. Morrow in November, 1921. In his message to the legislature which met in January,
1922, the Governor commended the report of the commission and recommended that
the legislature enact such educational measures as "experience, wisdom and patriotism
dictate." The Governor's message in part was as follows:
"Within the past eighteen months, a thorough, impartial and scientific survey has
been made of the schools of our state. This survey has been made by educational
experts. I earnestly hope and urge that each of you will study this report and give
heed to its recommendations. It is no time for boasting. The brag dies upon our lips
4— Vol. II
602 A S E S Q U I- CENTENNIAL
when we know the facts. It is time for grim determination and a high resolve to
remedy educational conditions in Kentucky.
"We will not have good schools until Kentucky realizes the tragic cost of our poor
schools. Education is an investment; ignorance is a tax. I recommend that in your
deliberations concerning this most important matter, that you hold fast to all that is
good in the legislation of the past. I challenge you to take no backward steps. I
recommend that you enact such new legislation as experience, wisdom and patriotism
dictate."
Early in the legislative session, measures were introduced for the purpose of enacting
into law the various recommendations of the Educational Commission. On January 10,
1922, Hon. Brig. H. Harris, of the 34th senatorial district, introduced one of the
most important of these measures. This was Senate Bill No. 14 which provided for
the establishment of two additional state normal schools for white elementary teachers.
The bill was referred to the committee on University of Kentucky and Normal Schools,
Senator Hiram Brock, Chairman.
On January 20, the committee made a favorable report and on January 27, Senate
Bill No. 14 was passed by the Senate. The affirmative vote was thirty, the negative
vote, two.
As the bill had been drawn in accordance with the recommendations of the Educa-
tional Commission and with the approval of State Superintendent Colvin, it seemed
likely that it would encounter no serious opposition in the house.
Soon after the passage of the normal school bill by the Senate, the lobbies were
filled with strange faces from different parts of the state . . . especially from the
eastern and extreme western parts of Kentucky. It was evident that a new group of
persons were becoming "interested" in Senate Bill No. 14. It was soon whispered
that a scheme was being devised to insure the location of each school before the
House passed the bill.60
After a delay of nearly a month, Senate Bill No. 14 was made a special order in
the House for Tuesday, February 21, at 11 o'clock a.m.
When the bill came up for consideration, Mr. Jeter of Lincoln County offered an
amendment in the usual form by striking out certain parts and inserting so and so in-
stead. His amendment when properly inserted in the bill was as follows:
"That a Commission is hereby created to be known as the Normal School Com-
mission, consisting of eight members, who are citizens of the State of Kentucky, and
over 21 years of age, to be appointed as follows: Five by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and three by the President of the Senate, which is authorized and
empowered to establish two new normal schools for the training of white elementary
teachers, one in the western part of the state and one in the eastern part of the state.
The said commission is hereby authorized to receive gifts of land, buildings, or money
for the establishment of these two normal schools for elementary teachers."
The fight which had been anticipated was now on. Mr. Truesdell offered an amend-
ment to the amendment proposed by Mr. Jeter as follows:
"Amend the amendment of the representative from Lincoln County by substituting
the number of the commission to be appointed by the Speaker of the House from five
to three members."
The amendment to the amendment was lost.
Then the Jeter amendment was agreed to . . . ayes, 60; nays, 28.
Mr. Boyd offered an amendment to be known as Section 5:
"If any section of this act shall be held unconstitutional, the remainder of the act
shall not be affected thereby."
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 603
This amendment was agreed to.
The fight continued and other amendments were offered only to be rejected.
Finally, Mr. Jeter moved the previous question which was carried.
The final vote for Senate Bill No. 14 — the Normal School Bill — was . . . ayes, 69;
nays, 6.
Two days later, February 23, the Senate approved the bill as amended in the House,
and on March 8, 1922, Governor Edwin P. Morrow signed the bill.
Senate Bill No. 14 as amended became the first charter of the two additional state
normal schools which were to be established. The First Charter in full is as follows:
"An Act to provide for the establishment of two normal schools for the training of
white elementary teachers, and appropriating money for the maintenance and operation
thereof.
"Whereas, the greatest need of common schools is trained elementary teachers, and
"Whereas, the state normal schools already established can neither reach nor train
all the elementary teachers needed for the common schools; therefore,
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
"1. That a commission is hereby created, to be known as the State Normal School
Commission, consisting of eight members who are citizens of the state of Kentucky and
over the age of twenty-one years, to be appointed as follows: Five by the Speaker of
the House of Representatives and three by the President of the Senate, which is
hereby authorized and empowered to establish two new normal schools for the training
of white elementary teachers, one to be located in the western part of the state and
one to be located in the eastern part of the state. The said commission is hereby
authorized to receive gifts of land, buildings or money for the establishment of these
two normal schools for white elementary teachers.
"2. The management and control of these two normal schools, when established,
shall be and is hereby vested in the State Board of Education.
"3. There is hereby appropriated, out of the general funds of the state, for main-
tenance and operation, the sum of thirty thousand dollars annually. The auditor of
the Commonwealth is directed to draw his warrants for said sums, above appropriated,
upon requisitions signed by the chairman and secretary of the State Board of Educa-
tion. Provided, that the above appropriation for maintenance and operation shall not
become available for said normal schools until the said commission has received for
each of said schools gifts of land suitable to the purposes of each school, and also
gifts of buildings or money, or both, equivalent in value to at least one hundred thou-
sand dollars. Provided, further, that if gifts and donations are made, sufficient to
establish one of said schools, then the sum of thirty thousand dollars shall be available
for the maintenance and operation of said school.
"4. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby
repealed.
?5. If any section of this act shall be held unconstitutional, the remainder of this act
shall not be affected thereby."
In compliance with the act providing for a Normal School Commission, Speaker
James H. Tompson appointed the following members of the Normal School Commis-
sion: Edward C. O'Rear, Frankfort; Earl W. Senff, Mt. Sterling; W. S. Wallen,
Prestonburg; Thomas A. Combs, Lexington; Sherman Goodpaster, Frankfort.
Lieutenant Governor, Thruston Ballard, President of the Senate, appointed Alex.
G. Barret, Louisville; J. L. Harman, Bowling Green; A. Peter, Louisville.
Messrs. Barret and Harman had been members of the Educational Commission
which made the school survey. The other members were all prominent citizens of
604 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
the state, and highly respected in the community in which each resided. Judge O'Rear
was a prominent lawyer and formerly Judge of the Court of Appeals; Judge Senff
was County Judge of Montgomery County; Mr. Wallen was representative from Floyd
County; Judge Peter was a prominent lawyer of Louisville; Mr. Combs was a prominent
business man of Lexington and former senator from Fayette County; Mr. Goodpaster
was a prominent business man in Frankfort.
Even before the Commission was named it was common rumor that Murray and
Morehead would be the new normal schools. After the Commission was appointed,
you could hear from supposed 'insiders" the remark, "there is no doubt about it now,
Murray will get the western and Morehead the eastern school."
"How do you know?" was the question asked by many.
"Just wait and you'll see Rainey Wells and Allie Young are too smart for the other
boys. They've got the jump on them."
Such was the common gossip about the Capitol. Personally, I did not know the real
situation. I am confident that Superintendent Colvin did not either.
The people of Murray and Calloway County were among those who believed that
if they raised the specified amount of money, the Western Normal School would be
located at Murray. Hence, as soon as Governor Morrow signed the Normal School bill
on March 8, 1922, the campaign to raise $100,000 began. It was a rainy March and
the roads were muddy, but the Callowayans were undaunted. The campaign committee
consisted of the following persons: James G. Glasgow, Chairman; Robert E. Broach,
County Superintendent of Schools, secretary; O. T. Hale; Nat Ryan; Thomas A.
Stokes; and Ben Grogan. A canvass was made, not only in Murray, but throughout
the county. Every school district made its contribution. The speakers gave assurance
that if the $100,000 was raised, the Normal School would be located at Murray.
"But what if it is not located there," said a few doubting Thomas's.
"But it will be," rejoined the speakers, "and if it is not located there, it will not
cost you a red cent, so sign on the dotted line."
Practically everybody who was abe to do so made his contribution. The subscription
books contain the names of more than 1,100 persons who contributed from $500 to
$2,500 each. Before the end of March, the $100,000 was guaranteed— $50,000 by the
Bank of Murray and $50,000 by the First National Bank of Murray.
Soon after its appointment, the State Normal School Commission met and organized
by electing Judge E. C. O'Rear, chairman, and Mr. W. S. Wallen, secretary.
A date was set by the Commission to hear the representatives of the different cities
wishing to secure the location of either of the two State Normal Schools. At the
appointed place at the appointed hour the delegations from the various cities desiring
one of the schools assembled. The "glories" of each city was set forth to the members
of the Commission.
Among the cities bidding for the Western State Normal School were Owensboro,
Henderson, Hopkinsville, Morganfield, Princeton, Paducah, Benton, Mayfield, Clinton
and Murray. Lots were drawn to determine the order in which the representatives would
appear before the Commission. Murray drew last place.
Judge Rainey T. Wells was chosen to speak for Murray. He spoke of the new
$125,000 high school building, sanitary conditions, character of the Murray people, etc.
But the most effective part of his speech was the presentation of two certified checks
for $50,000 each.
"It is not what the people of Murray promise to do, but what they have already done
that counts," he said in concluding.
During the summer of 1922 the Commission made a tour of inspection of each city
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 605
bidding for the Western School. The purpose of the tour was to enable each member
of the Commission to see for himself just what each city really had to offer in the way
of material and cultural facilities, as well as cash.
The inspection tour was a delight from start to finish. "Every place we went,"
said one member of the Commission, "the folks polished up the handle of the big
front door, dusted the sidewalks with flannel rags, cut the weeds, carried our baggage
and dined us."
By the end of summer the joy ride was over. The voting was about to take place.
On Friday, September 17, 1922, at the meeting held in Judge O'Rear's office in
Frankfort, Murray was chosen as the site of the Western State Normal School by the
votes of O'Rear, Wallen, SenfT, Combs and Goodpaster. These were the members
of the Commission appointed by Speaker James H. Thompson. The three members
appointed by Lieutenant Governor Ballard — Barret, Harman and Peter — voted for
Mayfield. More than twenty ballots were taken before a choice was made. Almost
every city in the contest received one or more votes on some ballot. Finally the con-
test narrowed down to Mayfield and Murray and on several ballots the vote was a
tie — four votes for Mayfied and four votes for Murray.
How was the news received?
What were some of the comments?
A few quotations from the Paducah Evening Sun or of the State Journal of Frank-
fort are given.
Murray Citizens Stage Jubilee
"News of the award of the Normal School for the Western district to Murray
caused an impromptu celebration there yesterday that rivaled the Armistice Day
jubilation at the end of the war. When the word came, men 'cut loose' and everyone
in downtown Murray joined in a good old fashioned joy fest."
Mayfield Leaders to Probe Award of Normal — Princeton Joins In
"Directed by W. J. Webb, Attorney and Chairman of the Mayfield Normal Com-
mittee, Mayfield attorneys and committee members will insist that the State Board of
Education begin an immediate investigation of the State Normal School Commission in
the selection of Murray as the site of the school.
"A circular letter to all competing towns is being sent out by Homer W. Nichols,
Chairman of the Princeton Committee . . . demanding an investigation."
Normal School Commission Defy Charges
Proceedings of the Normal School Commission ... to select sites for the two
normal schools have been kept in detail and will soon be made public, it became known
yesterday.
Judge E. C. O'Rear, Chairman of the Commission, stated that he caused complete
minutes of all meetings to be kept, and that the record would be made public as soon
as it could be transcribed He said that he would telegraph Secretary W. S.
Wallen to send the minutes to Frankfort at once, so that they could be given out. . . .
"I invite investigation; I challenge it; I defy it," Judge O'Rear said, speaking of
reports that Mayfield interests demanded an investigation of the work of the Com-
mission. He said the Committee chose Murray because it made a showing that placed
it ahead of other cities.
"I was for Henderson first for the Normal School," said Judge O'Rear. But other
members of the Commission soon voted me out of that. When Henderson was dropped,
606 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
I voted for Mayfield without change until it appeared that there would be a hopeless
deadlock and then I voted for Murray.
"I figured that Mayfield was a little better than Murray for geographical reasons,
and therefore I was for it. But Murray is one of the most attractive towns in Ken-
tucky and showed a fine community spirit. It made the greatest evidential showing
of any town in the state.
"Mayfield and Murray were not first contenders by any means. Members voted for
various towns. I even voted for Paducah once, and in my opinion such a school as this
should dominate the community in which it is located and not the community dominate
the school as would have been the case with either Paducah or Owensboro, both of
which are big shop and manufacturing centers."
Normal Location to Stand
"It is unfortunate that this feeling should be stirred up between the western towns,"
said George Colvin, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to the Louisville Times
today. "Murray is a fine community with splendid people and a splendid spirit. The
only objection the Department of Education has to the town is its geographical situation.
It is too near the edge of the state, being just six miles from the Tennessee line."
Mr. Colvin said he did not see any way clear toward blocking the selection of
Murray and Morehead.
State Superintendents Term of Office
Joseph J. Bullock 1838-1839
Hubbard H. Kavanaugh 1839-184(T
B. B. Smith 1840-1842
George W. Brush 1842-1843
Thompson Dillard 1843-1847
Robert J. Breckinridge 1847-1851
John Daniel Mathews 1853-1859
Robert Richardson 1859-1863
Daniel Stevenson 1863-1867
Zack F. Smith 1867-1871
H. A. M. Henderson 1871-1879
J. D. Pickett 1879-1887
Ed Porter Thompson . 1887-1895
W. J. Davidson 1895-1899
Harry V. McChesney 1899-1903
James M. Fuqua 1903-1907
J. G. Crabbe -
Ellsworth Regenstein 1907-191 1
Barksdale Hamlett 1911-1915
Virgil O. Gilbert 1915-1919
George Colvin 1919-1923
MacHenry Rhodes * 1923-1927
w. c Beii ;;;;;;; 1927-1931
James H Richmond 1931-1935
Harry W. Peters 1935-1939
John W. Brooker 1939-1943
John Fred Williams f 1943-1947
SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
■■■■■■
Zachary F. Smith
1867-1871
J. G. Crabbe
1907-1909
Robert J. Breckinridge
1847-1853
George Colvin
1920-1924
James H. Richmond
1932-1936
608 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
A few of the superintendents, because of a propitious mixture of personality, knowl-
edge, favorableness of time, elements and people were fortunate enough to have the
distinction of having been instrumental in bringing about unusual and epoch-making
reform, or to initiate it. The author, because of lack of space, is able to select only
five for consideration.
Robert Jefferson Breckinridge
1847-1853
(Biographical sketch quoted from The Courier- Journal, December 28, 1871.)
"Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge died at his home in Danville yesterday. Though his ill-
ness has been protracted and his condition for a week past has given little or no room
for hope, the news of his death will not be received without a shock and regret.
The deceased was one of the most distinguished members of the illustrious Breckin-
ridge family, whose name has adorned the history of Kentucky since the days of
the administration of Thomas Jefferson, and tracing thence its line back through
Virginia for a century.
"Robert J. Breckinridge was born at Cabell's Dale, Kentucky, on the eighth
of March, 1800. He studied successively in Princeton, Yale, and Union Colleges
(New York), graduating at the latter in 1819. He then fitted himself for the
bar and practiced law in this state for eight years from 1823, being in that period
several times a member of the State Legislature. His family had been Presbyterians
since the time of the Reformation, and, upon profession of his faith in 1829, he
joined that church. He was ordained pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in
Baltimore in 1832, in which position he remained 13 years, and rose to eminence
for his eloquence and power in the pulpit. In 1845 he was elected president of
Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years, at the same
time being pastor of a church in a neighboring village; after which he removed to
Kentucky, assumed the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church in Lexington, and
became Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state. In 1853 he resigned
these charges, having been elected by the General Assembly professor of Exegetic,
Didactic and Polemic Theology in the newly established seminary at Danville, an
office which he held until within a year of his death. He has participated largely
in the religious, moral and philanthropic movements and discussions of the last
forty years.
"While in Baltimore he edited the 'Literary and Religious Magazine' and the 'Spirit
of the Nineteenth Century,' and his discussions with the Roman Catholics which ex-
tended over the whole field of faith and practice, gave evidence of the extent of his
knowledge of church history and systematic thology. In the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, in which he often had a seat, he has exerted a commanding influ-
ence. During the controversies which led to the disruption of the church into the
old and new schools, he steadfastly maintained the old landmarks in opposition to
every innovation; but was efficient in removing from the discussion all personal aspects,
and in basing it upon fundamental principles. He took an active and prominent part
in the religious discussions, in Kentucky especially, which grew out of the animosities
engendered by the war. Espousing the cause of the North, he was an active partisan,
and for a time during the war, was considered as the mouth-piece of the administration
in Kentucky. He is the principal author of the common school system of Kentucky,
and the prosperity of the theological school at Danville is almost wholly due to him.
His published works consist of a great number of tracts, esrays, and letters; two volumes
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 609
of ^Travels in Europe,' an important work on theology, objectively considered, and
other books on various subjects."
Superintendent Robert Richardson said of him: "To Doctor Breckinridge, above all
others, the people of Kentucky owe the establishment of our System of Common
Schools. He found that system a ruin; he left it a majestic fabric; he found it a
prey to the timidity of legislation and the plunders of party; he left it beyond legisla-
tion and beyond party, fixed immovable among the powers of Government in the
Organic law of a great Commonwealth."'
Dr. Breckinridge's Statement Concerning the Advancement of His
Administration
"The school fund itself is large and productive, an honor to the State, a monument
of public wisdom and virtue, an ample and noble provision, and if properly managed,
sufficient for the education of the children of the State. It consists: 1. Of a tax of
two cents on every hundred dollars worth of taxable property in the State. 2. Of
State bonds to the amount of $1,326,770.01. 3. Of 735 shares in the capital stock of
the Bank of Kentucky, whose par is $100 each, $73,500. 4. Of a certain bonus on
other bank stocks, whose value is not capable of being precisely reckoned. The income
of this fund ought to be at present about $150,000; and for ten years to come, it
ought to average about $160,000; and it ought to increase with the continually increas-
ing value of the property of the State. There are eight State bonds, of which the first
six exists in copies only, the originals having been burnt by law some years ago. One
copy of these bonds has been in my custody during the six years I was Superintendent,
and has been delivered by me, to the present Superintendent. The seventh bond, being
for $308,268.42, dated December 20, 1848, was never in my possession, but remains
in the office of Secretary of State. The eighth bond, being for the sum of $101,001.59,
dated January 1, 1850, was never issued at all, as far as I can ascertain, otherwise than
by being inscribed at large upon the Executive Journal of Governor Crittenden. Cer-
tificate of stock for the 735 shares in the Bank of Kentucky, was in my custody and
was delivered with the copies of State bonds above mentioned, to the present Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction; to whom I have also delivered the books and papers
belonging to the office. I may add that no public money ever passed through my hands,
except that appertaining to my private account with the State; and that all my accounts
with the Auditor for the large public drafts I drew, were always in a condition for
immediate settlement, and were in fact, in a perpetual state of settlement, as they
progressed from quarter to quarter; and that upon my resignation, only the fractional
quarter remained for closure, which was done in a few moments, by the Auditor. It
seems to me that a system upon which hundreds of thousands of dollars were applied
during many years, to immense public interests, by means so simple and complete that
loss, or even delay, was impossible, did not deserve special mutilation in the Revised
t^ode.
Sound Building
"A vast work has been done for public education in this State. But it has been
done under vast opposition, and against vast obstacles. To my predecessors in the
office of Superintendent, I have never failed to ascribe a large part of whatever has
been accomplished, and to claim for them the respect and gratitude of the people; I
have held the office much longer than any of them, and besides what I may have done
myself, I have reaped in some degree the fruits of their labor. What we have all done,
is capable of being generally, but distinctively summed up. An immense fund has
been created, organized and secured; and when in a moment of political phrenzy it
610 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
was destroyed, it has been by a glorious series of legislative and popular acts, retrieved,
restored, augmented and made sacred. The whole State has been organized into school
districts, and a complete and general system of popular education, in its lowest stages,
has been firmly and universally established. Many thousands of comfortable school-
houses have been erected, and many thousands of additional teachers have found honor-
able and remunerating employment. Many tens of thousands of the sons and daughters
of the State have received, in these schools, the first elements of education; great multi-
tudes of whom, but for these schools, would never have received any education at all.
And, perhaps more than all, a public sentiment, and what is better and deeper, a public
principle, fixed, general and earnest, has been begotten in the mind and settled in the
heart of our people, that the work can be done, and shall be done. Our superintendents
have not done all this, though without them it could not have been done. The public
press, that noblest gift of liberty to knowledge, has done its part. Many statesmen
have done their part. Many philanthropists have done theirs. And many virtuous
citizens in the private, and not a few in the humble walks of life, have done theirs.
As for my part I count it one of the most fortunate events of my life, as it will always
be one of the most precious reminiscences, that I also have had my share in a work
so full of good, and good only."
Work for the Future
"For the further advancement and complete development of the system of public
education in this State, an immense work remains to be done. I have never ceased to
urge upon the legislature and the people of the State, that although the primary educa-
tion of all the children of the Commonwealth, in every generation ought to be con-
sidered the first and most important part of the work of public education, yet it was
only a part, and moreover, a part which could be accomplished far more speedily and
perfectly in its relations to a grand and complete whole, than it could be if attempted
as the sole object of our efforts. Until the passage of the calamitous law in the
Revised Code, all our laws on the subject of education were conceived in the spirit
of an equal interest in the State, in every grade and department of education, up to
the highest and in the idea of all being parts of a grand and comprehensive movement of
society, for its universal perfectionment in knowledge, under the guidance of its own or-
ganized force, that is, the law itself. So that in the large views I have cherished, I have
only developed and defended the spirits of those numerous enactments, by which Univer-
sities and Colleges have been founded, by which Academies have been endowed out
of the public domain, by which Institutions for the Blind and Deaf have been erected
at the public expense, and by which in so many forms, and for so long a period, the
public treasure has been bestowed, and the public will be made manifest, in favor of
universal education; universal alike in its subjects, as far as possible to every citizen,
and for every useful part of knowledge. I believe that each one of my six reports to
the legislature, assumes or expressly utters this broad, and as it appears to me only
worthy view of the subject; and several of them argued it at length. In a calm retro-
spect of the whole ground, from the position I now occupy, of a simple but deeply
interested spectator, I see nothing to change in what I have so repeatedly advanced on
this part of the subject. On the other hand, if the great experience it has been my
lot to have acquired during the past thirty years on the whole subject of education,
may be supposed to give any weight to my opinion, I frankly declare that I see nothing
more plainly than that the interests and the glory of this Commonwealth, are both put
in peril, precisely in proportion as low and narrow views are cherished, touching the
sublime duties which the State owes to her children, in connection with this great
su
bject
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
611
Importance of Knowledge
"It may be that men will not always bear to hear it, and it may be, too, that it is
not the part of carnal wisdom always to utter it. But wise and thoughtful men all
know it, and they have long toiled in the sacred cause, may not ever be silent and forbear
to proclaim it, even where none will hear. There is glory, greater than the glory of
wealth, and power, and arms, and conquest — the glory of loving, getting, cherishing,
diffusing, perpetuating knowledge, whereby men may adorn their lot in this life, what-
ever that lot may be; and whereby, as far as knowledge can, they may be led to know
a better life to come."'
Dr. Breckinridge's Achievement
The following bit of statistical information gives a clear picture of Dr. Breckin-
ridge's labors for common education. Writes Mr. Hamlett:
The fourth report of Superintendent Breckinridge is a remarkable document. In
it he triumphantly announced the complete establishment of the system, and con-
gratulates the Legislature and the country upon the consummation of an event so
full of blessings. He furnishes us with the following statistics:
Number of children reported in 1847 20,775
Number of children reported in 1848 33,311
Number of children reported in 1849 - 87,498
Number of children reported in 1850 1 78,5 59
Number of counties reported organized in 1847 27
Number of counties reported organized in 1848 44
Number of counties reported organized in 1849 , 71
Number of counties reported organized in 1850 98
Two counties remaining both actively engaged in organizing.
Number of children reported in 1847 m cities 8,702, in county 12,330
Number of children reported in 1848 in cities 7>475, in county 25,836
Number of children reported in 1849 in cities 9»7!6, in county 77,782
Number of children reported in 1850 in cities 8,653, in county 169,906
Number of schools in State in 1847 170
Number of schools in State in 1848 406
Number of schools in State in 1849 -— 825
Number of schools in State in 1850 3>704
Whole number of children between 5 and 16 in 1847 173,968
Whole number of children between 5 and 16 in 1848 183,458
Whole number of children between 5 and 16 in 1849 - T92,999
Whole number of children between 5 and 16 in 1850 202,840
Years Reported | 1841 | 1842
Whole number of
children reported
by Superintendent
of Legislature
4950
Average number re-
ported in district
schools I 2160
10221
1843
*5839
3384I 8533
^844_
17538
JL8+5_
26564
1846
27845
13053
_f?47
20775
10220
1848
333H
20418
_1849_
87498
42594
178559
8294
13493
73 no69
ZACHARIAH FREDERICK SMITH, (1867-1871)
(Quoted from The Courier-Journal, July 5, 1911)
"Vertigo aggravated by the hot weather resulted in the death of Zachariah Fred
Smith, for two terms State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and author of
"Smith's History of Kentucky," in his apartments at the Hotel Watkins, Chestnut
Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, yesterday morning between three and four
o'clock. He was found dead in bed by his wife. Besides his wife, who was Miss
Anna Pitman, of Louisville, he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. W. Hume Logan, of
Louisville, and two sons, Virgil D. Smith, of this city, and Dr. Austin D. Smith, of
612 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Brooklyn, N. Y. The latter was notified yesterday of his father's death, but will
not be able to reach Louisville in time for the funeral.
"Mr. Smith was a native of Henry County and was 84 years of age. He spent
the greater part of his life as an educator and wrote a number of historical articles.
At the time of his death he was just completing a history of the Christian Church
in Kentucky. Professor Smith set forth in his almost completed history of the Chris-
tian Church that Barton W. Stone was preaching the Christian Church doctrine in
Kentucky in 1803, several years before Alexander Campbell took up the work. Later,
according to the history, Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone joined hands in
the work of organizing the Christian Church.
"Mr. Smith was educated in the old Bacon College at Georgetown. Later the
college was moved to Harrodsburg, and finally it was merged with what is now Tran-
sylvania University at Lexington. Mr. Smith was one of the first curators of Tran-
sylvania University, then known as the Kentucky University, and was the last of
the original curators of the institution to die. He was an active member of The
Filson Club, of Louisville, and wrote a number of interesting articles for that organiza-
tion, among them The Life of Henry Clay, The Battle of New Orleans and The
Reformation Under Barton W . Stone.
"Mr. Smith at one time was president of the old Cumberland and Ohio Railroad
Company, which failed after he resigned as president. The company projected a road
from Eminence, on the Short Line Road, owned by the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad Company, to Nashville, Tennessee. Bonds were floated and the grading for
the full length of the road had been completed when Mr. Smith resigned his office.
That was back in the seventies. The country shortly afterward experienced a panic
which resulted in the death of the project.
"For the last thirty years Mr. Smith had been a resident of Louisville. He was
twice married. His first wife, who died about thirty years ago, was Miss Sue Helm,
of Henry County. Mr. Smith retired from active business several years ago, since
which time he had been living quietly, spending a great deal of his time writing.
He was looked upon as one of the best-informed men in the matter of history in the
country, and contributed a number of historical articles to various magazines during
his lifetime. Before coming to Louisville, Mr. Smith conducted a private school at
Newcastle for a number of years. He was keenly interested in the welfare of struggling
young men, especially those who aspired to the ministry, and at one time was president
of an organization which raised funds to help defray the cost of educating those who
aspired to become ministers.
"Although he had been in failing health for some time Mr. Smith was able to get
about, and on last Thursday dined at the home of his son-in-law, W. Hume Logan,
on Third Street. Last Monday he was on the street for a short while, but in the
afternoon complained of feeling badly. He seemed to suffer a great deal from the
heat, but Mrs. Smith said she did not think his condition warranted calling a physician,
as he was subject to attacks of vertigo and she knew what to do in such cases.
"Shortly before three o'clock yesterday morning Mrs. Smith left her apartment,
which adjoined that of her husband, and stepped into his room to see if he wanted
anything. He seemed to be resting easily and she returned to her room. At four
o'clock she made another trip to her husband's apartment, and was startled by the
pallor of his face. She immediately summoned aid from downstairs and upon exami-
nation it was found that Mr. Smith was dead.
"The body was taken to the home of W. Hume Logan, 2008 South Third Street,
where the funeral service will be conducted this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock by Pro-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 613
fessor W. H. Bartholomew, of the Girl's High School. Following the service, the
body will be taken to Eminence, Mr. Smith's old home, for burial. Those who will
act as honorary pallbearers at the funeral are W. B. Carter, George L. Sehon, Henry
L. Stone, Judge J. Wheeler McGee, T. B. Duncan and W. S. Caldwell."
Mr. Smith Describes the School System
"I assumed the duties of my office in September (1867) last, under the prejudicial
conviction of the popular mind, that the Common School System of Kentucky, no
longer worthy of the grave consideration of our men of public trust, had been dis-
carded from the policies of State legislation, and abandoned to whatever fate fortune
might hold in reserve for it. This popular conviction was the logical conclusion of
the treatment it had received at the hands of those who should have felt an ever-
abiding obligation to sustain, foster, and build up so vital and important an interest
to the people of the State — the legislators of the sessions of the past thirty years.
Beyond the acts for local and personal accommodation, in which the Legislatures in-
clined to be prodigal, but little attention had been given to the wants of the insti-
tution. This treatment has been unfortunate; and, if persisted in longer, must be
disastrous. The pro rata distribution of funds had fallen off thirty-three per cent,
while the vitality and efficiency of the administration of the local interests of the
system were becoming continually more impaired. The fatal and steady processes of
decay were thus made painfully evident, from year to year, where sagacious and con-
scientious statesmanship should have infused life, strength, and energy in the only
measure of general benefit for the people now incorporated in the policy of our State.
"Whilst our legislative bodies had been almost uniformly unfriendly, indifferent,
and evasive, the people, whenever permitted an expression, were unwaveringly firm in
advocacy and indorsement of the measures which proposed the inestimable boon of
education to their children.
"Could this be the popular sentiment of Kentucky, and yet her Representatives
elect from the people, the exponents of their sentiments, be antagonistic to the policy
it indicated? The inquiry suggested doubt at once. Might not this anomalous dis-
crepancy between the acts of legislation and the indices of public sentiment have been
the result of a want of properly matured, well concerted, and persistent efforts to
develop the strength of the friends of the cause? Or might it not have been that
an unfriendly, vigilant, and obstinate minority had been able to baffle and defeat all
such efforts, and thus to have postponed the issues of success?
"In adopting a free school system under the patronage of State aid, it is the pro-
fessed intention to provide a sufficiency of means to extend its benefits to every district
of the State. In view of this most evident proposition, the question to be decided is,
not whether a tax of ten, twenty or forty cents will be popular, but what amount of
tax is necessary to accomplish the purpose desired?
"After a full survey of the premises and a careful study of the wants of Kentucky,
my estimate is that an additional tax of fifteen cents on the one hundred dollars is
necessary as the basis of an effective and vigorous system, that will guarantee a free
school for five months in each year, in every district — the shortest time for which
tuition should be given, to educate the masses for good practical results. The present
tax of five cents produces about $185,000. Fifteen cents additional tax would in-
crease the amount to $740,000. Estimating the school revenues from all other sources
at $90,000, would give an aggregate of $830,000, to be annually distributed from the
State Treasury for free school purposes, or about two dollars and thirty-seven cents
per capita, supposing there are 350,000 children to be schooled. A proper re-district-
614 A SESQUI- CENTENNIAL
ing of the State will leave but one hundred as the maximum number, of pupil ages.
The amounts to be distributed, therefore, to the various country districts, would range
from $95 to $237. Supposing that the more populous districts employ two teachers
for each school, this estimate will give from nineteen to twenty-five dollars per month
towards the wages of teachers; or from one-half to three-fourth of the full amounts
required, estimating the salaries paid at from twenty-five to fifty dollars per month.
I would recommend that the balance of the salaries, ranging from one-fourth to one-
half the amounts thus estimated, be required from the people of the district by local
taxation, or substitute voluntary subscription, if preferred. The law should provide
for the assessment of a local school tax at the option of the people of each district,
not exceeding twenty cents on the one hundred dollars, to be used in cooperation with
the State funds; thus guaranteeing five month's free school and securing the use of
the distributable share of the State funds for the benefit of the district and no district
should be allowed to draw its quota from the State Treasury unless it thus provides
by local liberality and enterprise to continue the school. This is the law of Illinois;
and so admirable has been its effects, that ninety-one per cent of the school districts
of that State kept open free schools for an average of six and one-half months in the
year, 1865 and 1866. The importance of the State funds to the district, and the ap-
prehended contingency of its total loss, operate as a powerful stimulant to urge vigor-
ously measures for the organization of means, with a well-adjusted and ably-ad-
ministered school law, will kindle an enthusiasm for education among the people of
our beloved Commonwealth such as never inspired them before; and will result, in
establishing elementary schools of excellent character in every neighborhood of the
State besides grade and high schools at all central points.
"Our school system needs remodeling throughout, on the basis of modern reforms
which have been fully tested and approved by practical experience. It is not necessary
or proper that I should here formally present a plan, but will simply refer to some
of the leading defects of the present system, and suggest some outline features of a
needed revision. Such revision, could not be properly matured and perfected for
adoption before the next meeting of the Legislature; for which work I trust the Legis-
lature, during the session at hand, will make suitable provision, in conjunction with
the proposed increase of tax. The remedies and changes needed are —
"1st. The character and qualification of County Commissioners should be more
strictly guarded, their duties and responsibility made more imperative and an adequate
compensation provided and paid for their official services. Reason and experience
teach the impracticability of administering the local details of so vast and complex a
system with vigor and success, without competent and reliable local agents. The
county official representative is justly described by an able State Superintendent to
be 'the right arm of power to the system.' The position should be made to command
first-class men. His legitimate functions are, not simply those of statistical reporter
and financial agent, but to superintendent the districts, organize the schools, visit
and inspect the same, lecture upon the importance of them, mix and counsel with the
parents in public and at their homes, examine and certify teachers, conduct teachers'
institutes, adjust difficulties, encourage educational interest, provide teachers, and do
all in his power for the promotion of education. If competent and faithful, the county
superintendent will revolutionize his county in a year or two, and bring it in to complete
and active harmony with the general system.
"2nd. There should be provisions made to rear up a corps of professionally trained
teachers from our own population, for the supply of the public schools. The neglect
of this essential feature of a State system is seriously felt, both in regard to quantity
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 615
and quality of teachers, by us. It would open a useful and honorable field of industry
to seven or eight thousand young men and women of our State, who, as a resident
and professional class of enlightened educators, would become a valuable and powerful
agency towards the advancement of our social, civil, and material interests and insti-
tutions while the wages paid them, being residents, would be nothing lost to the aggre-
gate wealth of the body-politic.
"3rd. The promotion of an educational literature. While this is held to be an active
and powerful stimulus of educational interest and enterprise, we are utterly destitute
of any such agency. We need an educational journal — which should be nearly if not
quite, self-supporting; the establishment of district libraries; the introduction of books
upon the science of art of teaching, popular lectures, etc. The State could do much
to accomplish these ends without cost to its Treasury by proper legislation.
"4th. More effective legislation looking to the organization and support of grade and
high schools in our towns and populous centers. Our present law simply permits this,
but enjoins no decisive or definite measures upon the local authorities to accomplish it.
There should be a free grade-school in every village-district of one hundred and fifty
children, and an additional free high school department in every town district of two
hundred children.
"5th. We should endeavor to have a uniformity of text-books. The great variety
and frequent changes of those now in use have become a costly and serious evil, under
our unprotected system.
"6th. The reconstruction of our district organization upon the plan of consolidation.
This has been done by most of the States north of us, under the style of the township
of six miles square which embraces one district, all the schools of which are under
one board of trustees. It is simply adopting for the country the same kind of organiza-
tion that controls the free schools of cities, and is done to simplify and energize the
local operations of the system, by getting rid of three-fourth of its official machinery,
and securing a better selection of managers.
"Complaints have been lodged in this office that the Commissioners of certain counties
are in the habit of using the school funds, belonging to their counties in their business
or in speculations, before paying it out, for the benefits of the teachers, to the trustees,
thus delaying payment to those who have earned it by their hard labor for weeks and
months. I cannot too severely condemn such a reprehensible practice. If not positively
dishonest, the selfishness and injustice which would prompt such a practice would soon so
blunt the moral sensibilities of the man as to lead him on to dishonesty. The present
imperfect law forces the teacher, in every case, to wait for his wages for months. This
is a severe hardship, for which a remedy will in due time be proposed.
5J71
Honorable Richard H. Collins' Estimate of Z. F. Smith as Superintendent
of Public Instruction
"Of the eminent men who have championed the cause of public education in the
state, no one has more clearly apprehended its vast and vital importance, and the
comprehensiveness of its universal relations. Realizing that to increase the facilities
for public education, the essential and indispensable need was an enlarged financial
basis, he applied to the legislature to increase the school tax from 5 cents to 20 cents
on the $100 — to be submitted for ratification to a vote of the people. Such active
and persistent opposition was developed as delayed the passage of the bill until the
second session; but the efforts of Mr. Smith and the friends of the cause succeeded
at last. The canvass before the people, into which he threw his whole strength, was
616 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
marked by such energy and practical wisdom as never fails of success — resulting in
a majority for the law of 24,679 in a total vote of 133,493.
"The full fruits of Mr. Smith's reform policy — as set forth in his special report
to the legislature, and embodied in a bill for the organization, endowment, and manage-
ment of the common schools — were defeated for the time. Some of its important
features were adopted; others then rejected, have already been engrafted upon the
law; the leaven is working still. Revolutions sometimes move slowly; a tremendous
impetus to the cause of public education was given by the popular vote of 1869 — it
was not to be expected that the whole work of improvement could be wrought at
once. He struck for: 1. Higher qualifications and better compensation for county
commissioners; 2. A trained corps of professional teachers in our home population;
3. Educational literature, a journal, district libraries, popular lectures, etc.; 4. Graded
and high schools in the cities and towns; 5. Uniform text-books; 6. Reconstruction of
district organization, and enlisting more competent trustees; 7. Increased importance
to the Department of Education, as among the other State Departments; 8. The right
of country districts to vote special taxation for increased school terms, permanent
buildings, etc. Patience hath her perfect work in this, also. Mr. Smith is a practical
philosopher; and while, in the changes of the day, this work was removed from his
hands, can watch with proud satisfaction how other able men are developing and
engrafting upon the state his noble policy. His friends point with thankful pride
to the following results of his four years' administration: 1. The extension of the
school sessions to five months, theretofore only three months; 2. Monthly wages of
teachers doubled, and as a whole these wages were tripled; 3. Number of school dis-
tricts increased; 4. Of schools taught, of census pupil children, and of attendance at
school, the increase was twenty per cent — and in the amount and quality of education
given, and in the active interest created in behalf of the public schools, the increase
exceeded one hundred per cent. For the first time in Kentucky, institutes improvised
for the normal instruction of teachers were put in operation; the standard of qualifi-
cations of teachers was advanced, and officials and the people were awakened to new
life and activity on the subject."'2
John Grant Crabbe, 1907-1909
(Biographical sketch in Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky, pp. 193, 194.)
John Grant Crabbe, the seventeenth superintendent of public instruction of Ken-
tucky, was born in Mt. Sterling, Madison County, Ohio, November 29, 1865. He
is a son of Thomas W. Crabbe and Julia Catherine Baughman Crabbe. He married
Miss Jennie Florence Graff, of Delaware, Ohio.
Dr. Crabbe received his early education in the schools of Mt. Sterling, graduating
from the high school of that city. Later he graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan
University at Delaware, Ohio, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Three years
later he received the degree of Master of Arts, from the same institution. In 1897,
he received the degree of Master of Pedagogy from the Ohio University. In 1909,
Berea College, Kentucky, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws; again,
in 1909, he received the degree of Doctor of Pedagogy from Miami University; and
in 1911, the State University of Kentucky conferred upon him the degree of Doctor
of Laws.
President Crabbe has been all his life an exceedingly busy man. At the commence-
ment of his career as an educator, he served as head of the department of Greek and
Latin in the Flint (Michigan) Normal College. He was elected superintendent of
the city schools of Ashland, Kentucky, in 1890, and ably and satisfactorily performed
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 617
the duties of that office for eighteen years. In 1895, he was chairman of the Ken-
tucky Committee of Ten, and wrote the able report of that committee. In 1900 he
took a well-earned season of rest and recreation, which he passed in travel in Europe;
and in January, 1908, he assumed the duties of State Superintendent of Public In-
struction for Kentucky, to which position he was elected in the fall of 1907. He
resigned the office of State Superintendent, April 9, 1910; and on the same date became
president of the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School at Richmond, Kentucky.
(He resigned his position at Eastern to become president of the Greeley Teachers
College, Greeley, Colorado.)
Superintendent Crabbe has held many other positions of honor and trust. He has
been President of the Kentucky Educational Association, Chairman of the Kentucky
Educational Commission to revise the school laws of the State; President of the De-
partment of Normal Schools of the Southern Educational Association; State Director
of the National Education Association, a member of the National Council of Education
of the National Education Association, President of the Department of Normal
Schools of the National Education Association, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa
Fraternity, and Associate Editor of the Inland Educator. In every position and
walk in life, Dr. Crabbe has made good.
He has been prominent for years in religious, fraternal and musical circles. In
religion, Dr. Crabbe is a Methodist. He is especially prominent as a Sunday School
Superintendent. While at Ashland, he built up one of the greatest Sunday Schools
in this country. He is a prominent Mason and Knights Templar. Music is one of
his great hobbies, if hobby it may be termed. He is a composer of music; and while
State Superintendent he composed and set to music the song, "Kentucky Schools,"
which has thrilled thousands of Kentucky children.
Dr. Crabbe's work while Superintendent is part of the current history of the State.
Probably the most noted events of his busy administration were the Whirlwind Cam-
paigns and the County School Law. By the first, he aroused the State from center
to circumference along the lines of educational needs; the second abolished an out-
grown three-trustee system and started a growth in the schools of the State almost
unparalleled in the history of education.
Kentucky owes a debt of gratitude to this worthy man who started forces for good
to work that will tell through the centuries to come.'
Dr. Crabbe, energetic, dynamic, magnetic with ideals and visions of betterment of
Kentucky through education, undertook during the short time of his incumbency to
bring reforms which many other states had enjoyed for half a century. His task
was extremely difficult; yet he set about with an inspiring optimism which was not
easy to oppose. He had the full support of Governor Augustus E. Wilson, also
intensely interested in general reform.
Dr. Crabbe reported that Kentuckians had been and were more interested in national
and international affairs than in local affairs. He declared: "The most important
questions before the people of Kentucky today are the enforcement of the laws, the
betterment of the schools, the improvement of the roads and the change in our system
of taxation. These questions are of much more immediate concern to the citizens of
Kentucky than any question relating to the tariff, to the national banking laws or
the trusts." Dr. Crabbe contended that Kentucky's per capita return for education
was near the head of the list of states (nearly $3,000,000 annually being received) .
Yet he declared that in the 52 states and territories Kentucky ranked 49th in literacy.
Only 46 per cent of the children of school age attended school. In fact, he said that
Kentucky's education system was more wretchedly managed than in most any other
5— Vol. II
!LL LIB.
618 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
state of the Union. Five thousand of the school trustees of the state were illiterate!
In this statement, Dr. Crabbe touched the acute spot: "The old school district system
which has prevailed in Kentucky until recently, was discarded in the Northern States
nearly 75 years ago, and has been discarded in every Southern State excepting Arkan-
sas. Our whole school system has been disjointed and disconnected. It is not a
connected, harmonious whole. We had no provision for county high schools; we had
no common school system which led up to a high school or a high school which led
up to a State college or university." °
After surveying the situation and preparing recommendations, Dr. Crabbe organized
a state-wide speaking and publicity campaign for educational reform and improvement.
This was the famous "Whirlwind" of 1908 (previously mentioned) . So successful
was the enterprise that another was conducted during the following year. Many of
the most prominent men of the state participated in this crusade for betterment, and
the results were virtually miraculous. The state was aroused for educational reform
as never before. Dr. Crabbe declared: "This campaign has had a wonderful effect
in bringing the gospel of public education nearer to the hearts of the people. The
people are thinking. Under the operation of the new "County School District Law"
the local taxes in the counties and districts for the current year have been increased
from the sum of $180,000 in 1907-08 to an amount estimated at $1,000,000 for the
current year. Much has been accomplished, but the work is not complete. It is merely
in its infancy and we propose "to fight it out on this line."'
Perhaps the most important legislative achievement of his administration was the
enactment of the County Board Bill. This law, House Bill 141, relieved the state of
the curse of the old three-man district trustee system. Under this piece of medieval
antiquity the state's school system had been administered by trustees (5,000 of whom
were illiterate) in 8,500 districts. These trustees being all-powerful levied taxes, col-
lected (spent, squandered or stole) , appointed the teacher, erected and repaired build-
ings— and generally ran things backward. This bill provided for (1) the county board
system of school government, (2) the creation of a county high school in every county.
Summarizing his legislative gains to the end of 1908, Dr. Crabbe listed these points:
"The General Assembly in 1908 passed the County School District Law, or the
Sullivan bill, which calls for a complete reorganization of the school system and for
the establishment within two years of a High School within every county in Kentucky.
"It made State College a State University and enlarged the scope of its usefulness.
"It appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to the State University, one hundred
and fifty thousand to the Eastern Normal, and one hundred and fifty thousand to
the Western Normal for additional grounds, school buildings, dormitories, equipment,
etc.; and, in addition to what each school is now getting annually, it appropriated
thirty thousand dollars annually to the Western Normal, twenty thousand to the
Eastern Normal, and twenty thousand to the State University.
"It passed a bill establishing the Educational Commission and instructed it to
make a thorough investigation of the whole system and report to the next General
Assembly of Kentucky.
"It passed a bill appropriating forty thousand dollars for additional improvements
at the Kentucky Normal for colored persons.
"It passed an act changing the name of Kentucky University to Transylvania Uni-
versity.
"It passed a bill regulating the Child Labor Law.
"It passed a compulsory attendance and Truancy Law in cities of the first, second,
third, and fourth classes."
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 619
A state is seldom fortunate enough to have such a man as John Grant Crabbe at
the head of its public school system. The two short years of service brought reforms
that should have been made a half century before. Elements of his forward-looking
program of reform were studied and copied by many states, and, of course, after a
time, his services were obtained by another state, more interested in education than
Kentucky. Our state's $5,000 salary limitation is more important to a majority of
the voters than the services of supremely outstanding men.
GEORGE COLVIN, 1920-1924
Biographical Sketch
(Quoted from The Courier-Journal, July 23, 1928)
"George Colvin, president of the University of Louisville and former State Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction, died at 3:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon at St. Anthony's
Hospital. He was 53 years old and resided at 1315 S. Sixth Street.
"For the last two years Mr. Colvin had suffered mild attacks of appendicitis, and
last Christmas received treatment at the hospital. An operation was suggested at
the time, but was not performed because of his physical condition, according to Dr.
Walter Hume. Last Monday Mr. Colvin went to the hospital and the operation was
performed at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning by Dr. Hume. A small growth on
one of Mr. Colvin's legs was removed at the same time.
"Satisfactory progress was reported until Saturday morning, when complications
caused a set-back. Consultations were then held by Drs. Hume, George A. Hendon,
William Jenkins and John R. Wathen. As a result, a minor operation was performed
Saturday night in an effort to off-set the complications, but the patient's condition
grew worse. . . .
"Mr. Colvin was born in an obscure corner of Washington County, September 7,
1875, the son of a carpenter. He was one of eight children in the family, and partly
to relieve his father of responsibility for a large family, left home at the age of ten.
"He obtained employment at Williamsburg and attended school irregularly. He
was able within six years to prepare himself, largely by home study, for entrance to
Centre College, Danville, Kentucky.
"His popularity was attested by his election as class president for four consecutive
years. The Barrett Memorial Latin prize was awarded to Mr. Colvin in his sophomore
year. He was elected president of the Deinologian Literary Society one year and was
a member of the debating team, in addition to winning laurels on the football and
track teams. In his senior year Mr. Colvin was captain of the football team.
"Mr. Colvin was graduated from the college with a bachelor of arts degree in
June, 1895, and returned to study law in the fall of 1896. After studying law one
year, Mr. Colvin was admitted to the bar, but "postponed" starting his practice to
take charge of a school for a few days at his adopted town, Springfield, Kentucky.
"I expected to work for the school only a few days, Mr. Colvin once said. This
actually lasted sixteen years. Thus his ambition to become a practicing lawyer was
changed, but his legal training found outlet in educational reforms, that caused him
to be regarded as one of the outstanding educators of the state.
"After four years in the school at Springfield, Mr. Colvin came to Louisville, where
he took a position in the legal department of the Louisville Title Company. He then
entered partnership with John W. Lewis, the only Republican ever elected to Congress
620 A S E S Q U I -CENTENNIAL
from the Fourth District, and began practicing law at Springfield. Again he was
called to take over part of a term of the county school superintendent, who had failed
to keep his contract. He never broke away from school work again.
"He became a state wide figure in 1919 when he ran for the office of Superintendent
of Public Instruction on the Republican ticket. Together with the entire ticket, he
was elected.
"His reforms in that office attracted National interest. One of his first acts was
to foster an educational survey of the State, as a basis of almost revolutionary legis-
lation that he later introduced.
"Through the personality and executive ability of Mr. Colvin, a school legislative
program was put through in 1920 which changed the head of the county school
systems from an elective county superintendent to a county superintendent appointed
by a non-political county board of education. This was opposed bitterly by politicians,
who saw some of the powers of the party sacrificed to ?Colvin's Idealism.'
"His next step was the standardizing of professional and educational qualifications
for county superintendents and teachers. Under his reform system all examination
papers were graded at Frankfort under the supervision of a staff of educators which
he had added to this office. The temptation of superintendents to exchange certificates
for political patronage was definitely removed.
"Certificates were no longer issued for life, but held for short periods, after which
the applicant must show additional credits and experience in the profession. The
State Department provided summer schools for teachers and sponsored extension
courses that would enable teachers to meet the requirements.
"Salary schedules based on qualifications and professional fitness were inaugurated
also. Teachers' institutes were abolished and summer schools given in their place.
An arrangement was made for the State to pay most of the expenses of these schools
where the counties were unable to bear the expense.
"Mr. Colvin's diligence in uncovering frauds in many counties in connection with
the school funds and county examinations left him many political enemies.
"Teaching was made a profession under his four year administration. The teacher
was rated on her qualifications and professional attitude rather than on one examina-
tion, sometimes fraudulently passed, which was good for a lifetime.
"The State's yearly expenditure for schools of $5,000,000 was placed under a staff
of auditors and inspectors, who kept check on the use of state funds for 10,000 school
districts of the state. Formerly, the work had been done by two inspectors on a salary
of $1,000 a year each.
"Mr. Colvin placed every department of the State Deparement of Education on a
systematic basis with trained executives in charge of each. As a result, the county
school systems have been placed on a sound basis, according to reports issued by the
Department, and several other states have passed laws with Kentucky's system as
a model.
"Two honorary degrees were given Mr. Colvin in recognition of his work as an
educator. His alma mater, Centre College, and the University of Kentucky each be-
stowed upon him the degree LL.D.
"The first to advocate an amendment to the State Constitution which would permit
the distribution of school funds on the basis of local needs, Mr. Colvin fought for
the reform through and since his administration. He also changed the school funds
from interest bearing warrant basis to a cash basis.
"Mr. Colvin resigned from the office near the end of his term to make the race
for the Republican nomination for Governor in 1923 against Charles I. Dawson.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 621
With the support of the leading educators of the State, Mr. Colvin waged a strong
campaign but lost in the convention.
"Following his defeat, Mr. Colvin was appointed superintendent of the Louisville
and Jefferson Children's Home. He held this position for three years after which
he was offered the presidency of the University of Louisville. He took charge of
the institution in 1926, and continued until his death.
"He was married to Miss Mary McElroy, Springfield, Kentucky, in 1903. Three
children were born to them, two of whom are living. The other died at the age of five.
"Mr. Colvin was a member of the Christian Church and the Masonic and Elk
Lodges."'
The eminent educator, Dr. M. E. Ligon, wrote of Mr. Colvin and his work: "The
year 1920 was epoch-making in education in Kentucky. In January of that year
George Colvin, Superintendent of Schools in Springfield, became Superintendent of
Public Instruction. He was a graduate of Centre College and had served Springfield
as Superintendent for sixteen years. He was a man of high ideals and he understood
the educational problems of the state. He brought to his task a sound body, a vigorous
personality, some new ideas, a conviction that his ideas were sound, and a fearless
determination to serve the state to the best of his ability. Under his leadership of
four years, probably more significant legislation was enacted than under any superin-
tendent since the days of Superintendent Robert J. Breckinridge. The legislature
of 1920 may well be designated the "welfare legislature." It passed several laws
which were planned to give the state a better system of public schools. The act creating
a county board of education with power to select a county superintendent of schools
on a basis of professional training and experience was outstanding. Another act
created a commission for the purpose of making a survey of the public school system.
County boards of education were authorized to issue bonds for the purpose of pro-
viding funds for purchasing grounds and constructing buildings. The vocational
education board was authorized to appoint an inspector of the schools which offered
vocational courses. County boards of education were empowered to employ attendance
officers. Provision was made for the certification of teachers on the basis of training.
An increased appropriation for clerical and stenographic help in the State Department
of Education was made. A minimum salary of seventy-five dollars per month for
teachers was approved. Provision for teaching thrift and physical training was made.
A State Board of Charities and Corrections was created. In 1922 two new normal
schools were authorized, county teachers* institutes were abolished, summer teacher
training schools were authorized, and the normal schools at Bowling Green and
Richmond were made teachers' colleges."'"
The 1920 General Assembly submitted a constitutional amendment making the office
of State Superintendent of Public Instruction statutory instead of constitutional.
The amendment would have led to the removal of this office from politics and made
the superintendent appointive instead of elective. However, the amendment was de-
feated. Many politicians opposed it, and the people either did not understand it or
feared that it smacked of "Federalism," or both. The Kentucky voters throughout
the life of the state have been reluctant to permit changes in their constitutions, and
usually opposed to new constitutions — much to the detriment of the state and the
stigmatizing of the people. Mr. Colvin spoke often and feelingly upon the subject
of the amendment. Among other things he declared: "Education in Kentucky in the
past has suffered more from a lack of definite policy and a continued program than
from any other single cause. Every four years, administration of our schools is
changed. Under the law no state superintendent can succeed himself. Our schools
622 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
are a sort of legislative crazy quilt. Each succeeding superintendent adds a patch or
two that may or may not harmonize with the whole. No business can succeed if its
policies are changed every three or four years. The administration of schools is the
State's biggest business. In no department of government is a permanent program
more necessary than in the administration of schools. Kentucky will not have better
schools until she has better administration of her schools so long as she has politically
elected superintendents serving only four years. . . . Those who tell us that Ken-
tucky has not suffered from politically elected superintendents are either misinformed
or are deliberately misleading the people. In education Kentucky ranks forty-fifth
among the states. Until recently the attendance in our public schools was 37 per
cent. Our teachers are not only the most poorly paid, but they are also the most
poorly prepared of any state in the Union with the possible exception of two. It is
not because Kentucky children cannot be taught; it is not because Kentucky teachers
lack capacity to learn or devotion to teach; it is simply because children and teachers
alike have not been given a chance. No man who loves Kentucky, who loves Ken-
tucky's childhood can be satisfied with Kentucky's condition educationally. Nothing
has contributed to this condition more largely than lack of competent, conscientious,
continued, educational leadership."80
Another amendment was proposed at the same time, namely to fix a minimum
salary for the poor, underpaid teachers. Speaking upon this second provision, Mr.
Colvin, who was both courageous and eloquent, with a fine, deep, musical voice, de-
clared: "The adoption of the second amendment will make it possible for every
teacher in Kentucky to receive at least the minimum salary of $75.00. per month. It
will make it possible for every school in Kentucky to have at least a six months term.
It will also make it possible to aid those high schools that can not now reach the state's
standard. No greater opportunity ever came to the teachers of Kentucky than the
opportunity to fight for the adoption of these two amendments.
"I know that the professional politician has been accustomed, in the past, to treat
the Kentucky teacher with contempt. They think that $450.00 a year is too much to
pay for the most sacred and the most difficult work that is being done in Kentucky.
They do not care whether this poor pittance is paid when it is earned or not. Other
officials drawing their salary from the state must be paid promptly when the salary
comes due; but the teacher could wait, and sometimes they did wait for as much as
twelve months before receiving their pay check. The professional politician is no
more interested in the teacher now than he has been in the past. The teachers of
Kentucky will never be respected, will never be properly rewarded until they appreciate
and exercise the power that is theirs. Fourteen thousand teachers fighting in the
holiest cause that ever invoked the devotion and courage of men — the cause of the
Kentucky child, are invincible if they do but stand together.
"I challenge every Kentucky teacher to measure up to the high obligation that is
his. We fight not for ourselves alone, but we fight for the rights of six hundred
and fifty thousand Kentucky children. In the name of those children, I challenge
every Kentucky teacher to use voice and vote in support of the whole school program.
Let's have faith in ourselves. Let's have faith in our profession. Let's have faith in
our cause. Let's have faith in Kentucky."81
This important idea was projected by the forceful, energetic Mr. Colvin. It is
here explained by Miss Conroy: "Colvin developed the idea of an equal educational
opportunity for every Kentucky child. He believed equal educational opportunity
should depend upon taxation — not taxation of a city to support county schools, or
taxation of a favored county to support schools of a less favored county, or taxation
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 623
of the Blue Grass to support schools in the Mountains of the ^Knobs' — but taxation
of city and county, rich counties and poor, Blue Grass and Mountains, for the equal
benefit of all the children of the state. He believed in gathering Kentucky's taxes
where her wealth lay and in distributing her bounties where her children were. Colvin
believed in taking the fight for better schools back to the people. He believed that
a good school system must reflect the genius of a people and must grow out of public
desire.
Although he did not achieve a great deal in this fight, Mr. Colvin waged it heroically
nevertheless. The interests were against it; some self-satisfied wealthy communities
were opposed to it (but not all; many of those who stood to lose locally were among
the strongest supporters) and thousands of the poor ignorant who had most to gain
by its adoption voted against it. But it was neither the first nor the last time that
Kentucky voters set their faces determinedly against progress.
Mr. Colvin brought to the State Department of Education something new. He
was powerful physically, striking and handsome in appearance, dynamic and forceful
in personality, impulsive, emotional, fearless, big-hearted, sympathetic, with an intense
love for Kentucky, a deep conviction in the rightness of democratic education and a
positive mania for helping the downtrodden and those without opportunity for success
and happiness. He was an educator who dared to stand up and boldly tell the poli-
ticians that education was the first and most important consideration and that reforms
would have to be made. This was something new in educational circles. Perhaps not
since "Zack" Smith had any educator dared such a thing.
Things at the Department "hummed" while he was there. His capacity for work
was apparently unlimited. The office staff, soon growing to love him, worked at top
speed — and never a dull moment.
On a summer evening, across the way from the Capitol, shaggy-mopped George
Colvin and his great bosom friend, Dr. John Wesley Carr, could be found seated
on the porch, their sleeves rolled up, ecstatically spouting Shakespeare with the brilliant
verve and fascinating enthusiasm of the "wonderful boy" Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Across the other way at the Mansion, there was a "sound of revelry by night." The
beauty and chivalry of Kentucky in a gay, galaxy of rhythm gracefully glided in
exhilarating convolutions to the melodic strains of Strauss' lilting waltzes. At intervals
the silvery peals of Ed Morrow's resonant voice could be heard from the veranda
telling his fascinating stories of Kentucky life. In the words of Wordsworth, "Great
was it in that dawn to be alive." Morrow, Colvin, Ballard, Vaughan — all able, pro-
gressive men — were in Frankfort with great dreams for Kentucky, there to serve the
state with all their power. Reform was the harbinger; progress the watchword. Then,
1920, 1921, the "Carpetbaggers" had not yet moved in; then the stifling jealousies and
petty ambitions for personal preferment had not crept up to paralyze the glorious
work — keen desire for vicarious labor for the good of the Commonwealth seemed to
motivate each worker.
Mr. Colvin gave all he had unstintingly to the work for educational progress in
Kentucky. He knew the state's needs and was courageous enough to fight for them;
he knew that he could not achieve all, realized in advance that some of the measures
would be hopelessly defeated. Yet he dared be a pioneer, that the road might be
easier for those who would follow. He dared make many enemies in the interest of
reform and progress. Yet, it may be said, as General Edward Bragg, of Wisconsin,
said of Grover Cleveland, "We love him for the enemies he has made."
624 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
JAMES H. RICHMOND
(Quoted from Peters, History of Education in Kentucky, 1915-1940, pp. 85, 86)
James H. Richmond, the twenty-fourth Superintendent of Public Instruction of
Kentucky, was born April 17, 1884, at Ewing, Virginia. He was the son of Nathaniel
Ewing and Mary Morison Richmond, who were among the leading families of that
section of mountain country. His father was a physician in a reasonably progressive
community.
James grew up under normal conditions, performing the usual boyhood chores. His
chief recreation consisted of hunting, fishing, and playing baseball. He attended the
elementary schools at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and completed his secondary school
work in the Harrow High School. He attended college at Lincoln Memorial University
and the University of Tennessee, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
He did graduate work at Lincoln Memorial, University of Kentucky, and the Uni-
versity of Louisville. He holds the honorary degree of LL.D conferred by the Uni-
versity of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, and Lincoln Memorial University.
On December 15, 1917, he was married to Pearl J. Thompson of Louisville, Ken-
tucky. They have two daughters, Ruth and Anne Howell.
Before his election to the office of State Superintendent, he served as principal of
public and private schools in Tennessee, Texas, and Kentucky. He organized and
successfully conducted for several years the "Richmond Training School for Boys"
in Louisville, and in 1928 he accepted the position as State High School Inspector with
office in the State Department of Education at Frankfort. This position he held until
his induction into the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Mr. Richmond
came into this position with unusual energy, vitality, enthusiasm and aspiration to render
a real service to the State that had thus honored him.
Since the expiration of his term as Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mr. Rich-
mond has served as President of Murray State Teachers College, Murray, Kentucky.
He is thought of in Kentucky as being capable, aggressive, and energetic. He has
been called upon by the National Education Association and U. S. Office of Educa-
tion, Washington, D. C, and has served as Chairman of the National Committee for
Federal Aid for Education.
Mr. Richmond is a member of the Christian Church, where he has given much time
to procuring opportunities for orphans. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity
(Knights Templar and Shriner) and of the Rotary and Pendennis Clubs of Louis-
ville. (End of quotation) .
The native ability for leadership is rare in this age of socialization and standardiza-
tion, which tend to make a mass product of human beings and to the leveling of
individuality. Yet Dr. Richmond is one of those rare personages with ability to lead.
He possesses a bigness of personality, a magnanimity of soul, an affability of manner,
a benevolence of heart, a soundness of intellect, an abundance of energy, a purpose-
fulness of being, an inate wisdom of human kind, all of which conspire to make of
him one of the foremost Kentucky leaders of this century. And his leadership has
been directed in the interest of human. It may be said of him as of George Colvin
that he loves Kentuckians, particularly the youth, and has devoted his life to their
betterment through educational advancement. Not content to sit and mark time, he
has labored with the consecrated zeal of a prophet of old to break the shackles which
hinder mankind and stifle progress and has labored earnestly for progress in Kentucky.
He has never shunned a conflict for the betterment of the Kentucky boys and girls,
has been a happy warrior, a hero in the fight. But he has known how to work with
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 625
men. His achievements as State Superintendent of Public Instruction are summarized
in the succeeding paragraphs.
In seeking election at the hands of the people, James H. Richmond pledged them,,
if he should be elected, to make every effort to do the following things:
1. Reorganize the school laws of Kentucky;
2. Secure an increase in the school per capita;
3. Provide free textbooks.
His efforts in endeavoring to revise the school laws, along with those of school and
civic leaders throughout the state, resulted in the creation of the Kentucky Educa-
tional Commission, whose responsibility would be to make necessary recommendations
for an improved school set-up. The Governor appointed the following people on this
Commission:
Mrs. James G. Sheehan, President of the Kentucky Congress for Parents and
Teachers, Danville; Dr. Frank L. McVey, President of the University of Kentucky,
Lexington; Mr. J. W. Bradner, Superintendent of City Schools, Middlesboro; Mr. H.
W. Peters, Superintendent of Christian County Schools, Hopkinsville; Honorable W.
J. Webb, attorney, Mayheld; Mr. Yancey Altsheler, wholesale grocer, Louisville; Hon-
orable Ben Williamson, former United States Senator, Ashland; James H. Richmond,
Superintendent of Public Instruction and Chairman of the Commission, in accordance
with section 3 of the Commission Act.
James W. Cammack, Jr., Director of Research in the State Department of Educa-
tion, was made secretary of the Commission.
This Commission, working in close cooperation with the committees appointed by
it, succeeded in writing a complete set of new school laws. It took two years to do
this; and after the Commission's report was prepared, it was publicized throughout
the state. Schools, churches, luncheon clubs, P. T. A. groups and many others were
acquainted with the provisions of this proposed legislation.
Mr. Robert K. Salyers, Jr. headed the publicity for this very important work. He
did a magnificent job. During Governor Laffoon's second Legislature, this School
Code was passed. It repealed all existing school laws, and gave Kentucky a new set
of school laws, which have been recognized as among the best in the United States.
Subsequently, other states have copied these laws. It is interesting to note that only
two dissenting votes in the Legislature were cast against this measure. Incidentally, it
should be observed that in addition to the services of the State Department, the Ken-
tucky Education Association appropriated $7,500.00 to the Commission, the General
Education Board, $5,000.00 and the Kentucky Negro Association, $500.00.
The success in connection with the campaign for a new School Code in Kentucky
reveals this fact: If the proposition is sound, and the people are acquainted with it
— all the people — it will be adopted.
The administration of James H. Richmond took place during the great depression.
The per capita was decreasing steadily. In 1932-33, it was $7.00; in 1933-34, it
dropped to $6.00; and if the Legislature had not changed the method of securing school
money — giving a definite appropriation rather than depending upon the millage tax,
the school per capita would have fallen below $5.00 in the year 1934-35. The Super-
intendent recommended a $12.00 per capita. Such an appropriation was made by
the Legislature. It happened, however, that the school census was greater than was
anticipated, thereby making the per capita $11.60, which was the largest per capita,
up to that time, in the history of the state. From that time on, $12.00 has been con-
sidered the minimum for the school per capita.
During the administration of Governor Sampson, a law was passed providing free
626 ASESQU1-CENTENNIAL
textbooks for the lower grades, but no appropriation was made for this. Richmond
succeeded in getting an appropriation of $500,000.00, annually, for this purpose; and
such appropriations have continued to this date.
It will be noted that the three main pledges of Superintendent Richmond were
kept. In addition to the new School Code, an increased school per capita, a direct
appropriation and not a millage tax being realized, and an appropriation for free
textbooks, he reorganized the State Department on a functional basis, and established
a central filing system. In passing, it will be observed that the per capita was almost
doubled and the appropriation for free textbooks realized during the depth of the
greatest depression in our history.
Attention should be called to several fundamental changes, reflected in the new
School Code, brought about during this administration: a State Board of Education
appointed by the Governor supplanting the Ex Officio Board made up of the Attorney
General, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction; raising certifi-
cation requirements, thereby guaranteeing better trained teachers; the creation of a
Council on Public Higher Education; the improvement in school budgetary procedures;
and provisions directed toward the elimination of weak independent school districts
and the strengthening of county school districts.
During the administration of Superintendent Richmond, much progress was made
not only in improving the school laws and securing additional finances for the support
of the schools but school morale was strengthened, and the lay public became more
sensitive to the needs of the schools.
Had Dr. Richmond achieved nothing else during his administration than securing
the codification of the state's school laws, and the passage of the code by the General
Assembly, he would be remembered as one of Kentucky's outstanding superintendents.
This code is approximately one-seventh as long as a compilation of the old hetero-
geneous, contradictory and obsolete school laws scattered through the statute books for
generations. But the work was more than a mere codification; it introduced new laws
in the nature of sweeping reform, such as the creation of a new, more workable State
Board of Education, the creation of county districts, the provision for qualifications
for county board members, the efficient management of school funds, the elimination
of sub-district trustees, compulsory school attendance, revision of certification of teachers.
What Justinian was to Roman law, Dr. Richmond was to Kentucky's educational system.
EDUCATION COLLEGES
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE
A History by James Moreland
Established by Pioneer
An educational institution rooted in the soil of Kentucky at the very beginning of
the settlement of that State was destined to develop through an unbroken line into the
present Georgetown College. In November, 1775, John McClelland and a few
pioneers floated down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh and settled on the present site
of Georgetown. Attracted by the water of the "Royal Spring," as had been these
pioneers, others came to take up their abode in the beautiful wilderness, and thus one
of the earliest permanent settlements of the State was effected.
Thirteen years after McClelland and his party first looked on the site of their future
home, Elijah Craig established his Classical School and opened the doors for men de-
siring to secure an education. This school was the forerunner of Georgetown College.
It was maintained until 1798, when it was absorbed by Rittenhouse Academy. This
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 627
latter institution was chartered, by the Legislature of Kentucky on December 22 of that
year, and was endowed with 6,000 acres of the public lands of the State.
Chartered by Legislature in 1829
A building was erected by the Rittenhouse trustees, and the institution continued in
its educational endeavors until well into the next century. On January 15, 1829, the
Kentucky Legislature chartered "The Trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education So-
ciety," the corporate name of Georgetown College, and the trustees of Rittenhouse
Academy transferred all the property of the Academy, real and personal, to the
trustees of the new institution.
On September 2, 1829, the trustees of the College elected William Staughton, D.D.,
a resident of Washington, D. C, president of the College. While preparing to come
to Georgetown to assume his duties as head of the institution, Dr. Staughton died
suddenly on December 12, 1829.
In the meantime the trustees had ordered that the doors of the new college be opened
for instruction, and on January 11, 1830, the first session was formally inaugurated
with Thornton F. Johnson of Virginia as acting chairman of the faculty. Mr. Johnson
was the first faculty member elected by the board of trustees of the College. The first
session closed on June 11, 1830, and was followed, on July 26, with the opening of the
second term. In the meantime Dr. Joel S. Bacon of Newton Center, Mass., had been
elected president of the College, and he made his first address at the beginning of the
second session. This session was opened at the Methodist Church in Georgetown,
due to the lack of room on college property.
Four Years Without President
President Bacon resigned as head of the institution in 1832, and from this time
until 1836 the institution was without a president. In the latter year Rev. B. S.
Farnsworth was elected as third president, and assumed his duties. He resigned the
same year, however, due to his inability to secure concord among the trustees, and
again the educational guidance of the College devolved on the chairman of the faculty,
until October, 1838, when Rev. Rockwood Giddings became president.
The term of President Giddings was limited to only one year, due to premature
death, but during his administration he demonstrated that the College had a future,
and with the proper management could be made a great institution. During his
term of office the first permanent building of the College was erected on the campus.
This structure, known as Recitation Hall for years, but later renamed, in honor of
its builder, Giddings Hall, is at present the central building on the campus, and the
architectural type to which all other building are to conform.
First Permanent Building
The building, a large two-story brick, beautiful in the coloring of its walls, stands,
a stately pioneer, in the center of the group of educational buildings of Georgetown
College. Its prominent feature is the six Ionic columns of hand-made brick, solid to
the core and strong as Gibraltar, that would mark it as Kentucky-designed were it
on the plains of Timbuctoo. At present this building is used exclusively for instruction
purposes, but is eventually to be converted into the College library and made the
center of the new architectural plan of this seat of learning. It is claimed by men
of the building profession that the columns of this building are the only ones of their
kind in the world. The bricks for this structure were burned on the campus, and the
bulk of the work of erection was carried out by students and faculty members.
628 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
President Giddings did not assume any teaching duties, but gave his time to the
raising of funds for the needs of the institution, and in securing harmony among the
trustees. During his short term of office he erected the main building mentioned
above, and secured pledges for $100,000 as an endowment fund for the College. The
bulk of this was never collected, however, due to a financial crisis which swept the
country and made impossible the payment of most of the pledges.
On October 29, 1839, President Giddings died. He was succeeded early in 1840
by Dr. Howard Malcolm, who served for ten years. It was during Dr. Malcolm's
administration that many of the plans of Dr. Giddings and his predecessors were
realized. A boys' dormitory was built, and named after Issachar Pawling, whose do-
nation of $20,000 to the College represented the first large gift to the institution.
This building brought the total up to three structures on the campus, which were
destined to care for the College until late in the century.
President Resigns Because of Politics
In 1849, President Malcolm resigned from the College, being impelled largely by
political conditions around him which did not have his sympathy. It was in the period
of the anti-slavery agitation. He was succeeded by Dr. J. L. Reynolds of South
Carolina, who served until 1851, when he, too, resigned to give way to Dr. Duncan
R. Campbell, who took up the duties of his office in 1853.
Changes Made in Charter
During the administration of President Reynolds there were certain changes made
in the charter of the College which had far-reaching effects, and which have played a
large part in the development of the institution. By legislative act of November,
1851, it was "enacted that each individual who since January 1, 1840, has donated to
the Kentucky Baptist Education Society, $100, or shall do so in the future, shall be
and are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known and designated
by the name and style of Kentucky Baptist Education Society, and by that name
shall have perpetual succession, and a common seal, with power to change and alter
said seal at pleasure."
These changes further provided that this Society should hold annual meetings during
commencement week, that 25 members of the society should constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business, and that this organization should have the sole power to
appoint the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society, which were the trustees
of Georgetown College. This change in the charter affected materially the operation
of the institution, since before this time there were 24 trustees who were self-per-
petuating, and from this time on, these 24 members were elected by the Society. It
further changed a mere name into a working body constantly growing in numbers.
President Campbell Advances Work
When President Campbell entered on the duties of his office in 1853, the interests
of the College were materially advanced. Of the "Giddings Fund" which had been
raised in 1839 and 1840, only about $10,000 remained for general endowment uses,
since a large portion of this money had gone into the completion of the main college
building and into the erection of Pawling Hall, a boys' dormitory. President Camp-
bell prosecuted a vigorous campaign for funds, and succeeded in securing pledges for
$100,000 for the institution. Of this amount, about one-half was collected and in-
vested as endowment by the trustees. The remainder was taken in the form of personal
promises and notes, practically all of which was lost due to the Civil War, which made
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 629
it impossible for many of the donors to meet their obligations. This part of the
pledged amount was cancelled by the College.
Notwithstanding this severe loss to the finances of the College, the institution
weathered the Civil War much better than many institutions which went to the wall
through this period. At the conclusion of hostilities the $50,000 invested had been
little if any impaired. It was this fund which in a large measure made it possible for
the College to survive the severe period which followed the war.
Dr. Campbell died suddenly in 1865, and was succeeded in the presidency by Rev.
Nathaniel Macon Crawford, who resigned in 1871 due to ill health, and who in turn
was followed in September of the same year by Dr. Basil Manly, Jr., a native of
Alabama and a graduate of the University of that State. Dr. Manly continued as
president until 1879, when he resigned to accept again his old professorship in the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, from which he had resigned to come to
Georgetown.
During these last two administration no general attempt was made to increase the
funds of the institution, aside from an effort to endow a "Student's Chair" and toward
which some $8,000 was collected through the zeal of Dr. J. J. Rucker, a professor of
Mathematics in the College. Another forward step made during this period was the
erection of a wing to Pawling Hall, which formed a new front to this building. The
cost of the improvement was $7,000.
President Dudley's Services
Dr. Manly was succeeded by Dr. Richard M. Dudley as president. Dr. Dudley was
born in Madison County, Kentucky, on September 1, 1838. He graduated from
Georgetown College in 1860, and was the first graduate of the institution to be elevated
to the presidency. He served in this capacity until his death, January 5, 1893, having
acted as president for thirteen years, or since 1880.
The impress made by Dr. Dudley on the institution was probably the greatest of
any president up to his time. During his administration he tripled the endowment,
new professorships were created, new courses were added, the student body was in-
creased, and toward the close of his term coeducation was adopted by the College.
As a direct result of his work, two large new building were added to the College, but
these were not completed until after his death.
Coeducation Introduced
One year before the death of President Dudley, women were admitted to the College
on the same basis as men. This radical change in the policy of the institution necessi-
tates a flash back to the year 1845, when the college was only sixteen years old. At
that time there was founded in Georgetown an educational institution for women, known
as the Georgetown Female Seminary. From 1845 until 1868 this educational venture
was housed in buildings erected for purposes other than education. In 1868 Semi-
nary Hall was erected on property belonging to the Seminary, and this structure
housed the institution in all departments until 1892, when young women were ad-
mitted to the College and accepted in the classrooms with men. It continued to serve
as their dormitory until 1895, when the College erected a large dormitory for girls.
This building was named Rucker Hall, in honor of Prof. J. J. Rucker, who for years
was principal of the Seminary and a pioneer in Kentucky in advocating coeducation.
Up to this period, Kentucky had not made provision for the higher education of
young women equal to that for young men. The new dormitory was erected on the
south side of the campus, and was large enough to accomodate 120 girls.
630 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
When the residents of Seminary Hall left to take up their abode in the new build-
ing, the boys occupied their old home and the "Old Sem" became a boys' dormitory
until 1922, when it was abandoned by the College and the site sold to the city for
the erection of a $263,000 high school building.
New Building Erected
Following the death of Dr. Dudley, the trustees called Dr. Augustus Cleveland
Davidson of Covington, Kentucky, a graduate of the College in the class of 1871,
to the office, and he held this position for six years to August, 1898, when he resigned.
During his administration (1894) the Chapel Building was erected, containing a chapel,
library, gymnasium, literary society halls, and several classrooms. Rucker Hall was
also built in 1895, as has been mentioned. Following his resignation, Professor Arthur
Yager was chosen as chairman of the faculty, and the institution was without a presi-
dent until 1901, when the trustees called Dr. B. D. Gray to the presidency. Dr. Gray
served for two years, and was succeeded in 1903 by Dr. Joseph Judson Taylor. In
1907 Dr. Taylor resigned and Dr. Arthur Yager became president, which offiice he
held until 1913, when he resigned, soon after which he was appointed as Governor-
General of Porto Rico by his former classmate, President Woodrow Wilson. He filled
this position with high distinction for eight years.
In September, 1913, Dr. Maldon Browning Adams became the choice of the trustees
for the presidency, and entered upon his duties. He is still in this position and under
his administration the College had made commendable progress.
Growth Under President Adams
On assuming the presidency, President Adams set himself to the task of placing the
College on the accredited lists of different standardizing agencies. In 1919 he realized
the first step in his plans for the greater Georgetown, when the Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools of the Southern States placed the institution on its list of ap-
proved colleges. In this same year the Academy, which had been a part of the institu-
tion since its inception, was abolished and only regular college work allowed. Special
courses were discouraged, and the great majority of students entering were regularly
enrolled for a degree. This same situation has become the settled policy of the in-
stitution.
Following its inclusion in the list of standard southern colleges, Georgetown was
made a member of the American Association of Colleges, and has since become a
member of the American Council on Education.
When President Adams assumed the responsibilities of the presidency, there were
only 112 regular college students and ten members of the faculty. During his ad-
ministration the enrollment has steadily increased until more than 400 are enrolled
each year, and the faculty has been increased from ten to thirty-one members.
There was organized a permanent financial department, known as the 2nd Century
Fund, the purpose of which is to constantly seek for funds for the use of the institu-
tion in caring for its expansion needs in current expenses, endowment and buildings.
Expansion Program Started
In 1923 the trustees of the College purchased a tract of land immediately to the
east of the campus for use as an athletic field at such time as the present athletic field
will be needed for buildings. They also purchased a strip of land 130 feet wide
running from College Street to Main Street in order that the College might have a
direct outlet to the residence and business center of the city.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 631
A movement was started by the student body in May, 1924, for a new gymnasium.
As a result of this movement and after the students had subscribed about $25,000
toward the erection of the proposed building, the citizens of the town put on a cam-
paign for funds to complete the contemplated cost of $100,000, and in September of
this year, work was started, and the building was completed in 1925.
Anticipating its needs for the future, the institution started in 1925 a campaign
for one million dollars for endowment and buildings. Due to the fact that it con-
flicted with the unified budget of the Baptist denomination in Kentucky, the campaign
was discontinued after some four hundred thousand dollars had been pledged to the
institution. After this effort the 2nd Century Fund, the permanent financial depart-
ment of the College, was introduced by President Adams and adopted by the trustees.
A Brief Summary of Recent History
Dr. M. B. Adams was succeeded by Dr. Henry Eugene Watters as president in
1931. Dr. Watters received his degrees from Union University. Before coming to
Georgetown College he served seven years as Principal in Public Schools. He was
President of Hall-Moody Institute; President of College of Marshall, Texas; Presi-
dent of University. The college during this administration faced the same difficulties
that all similar institutions had during the depression period. Enrollment and finan-
cial troubles combined to make Dr. Watter's administration difficult.
Dr. Henry Noble Sherwood succeeded Dr. Watters as President. Dr. Sherwood
received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Indiana University, A.M. degree from Harvard
University and LL.D from Beaver College. He came to Georgetown College from
the University of Louisville, where he was professor of Political Science. Dr. Sher-
wood's administration was marked by denominational differences. A period of discord
led to the resignation of Dr. Sherwood in June, 1942.
In November, 1942, Dr. S. S. Hill came to Georgetown College as President. He
graduated from the University of Richmond and the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary. The University of Richmond conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity
upon Dr. Hill, June, 1943. He is a native of Virginia. He was serving as pastor of
the Deer Park Baptist Church when elected to the presidency of the college.
During the past year much has been done to improve the physical appearance of the
college. Rucker Hall, Pawling Hall, Giddings Hall have received attention that has
not only made them more beautiful inside but more useful as well. The other buildings
are on the schedule for repairs when time and materials permit such work. New con-
crete walks add to the beauty of the campus. Plans are being made for future building.
Georgetown College is the Senior Baptist College of Kentucky and, as such, realizes
and assumes the responsibility of forwarding Christian Education of the highest type
in our state and throughout the country. The college feels that the Baptists of Ken-
tucky want and deserve a college that gives to its students the loftiest ideals of Christian
living and the best of Christian training. Our graduates serve the state and the nation,
even the world.
Georgetown College is a member of and is fully accredited by the Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States, and the Association of Ken-
tucky Colleges and Universities. It also is a member of the Association of American
Colleges, the American Council on Education, and of the Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Association. Her work and credits are received with full value by graduate
schools and the state departments of education throughout the entire country.
632 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
LINDSEY WILSON JUNIOR COLLEGE
By Victor P. Henry
Lindsey Wilson College was an answer to a deep need. Wise and safe was the
choice made by those most responsible for the locating of the institution at Columbia,
Kentucky, to meet that need. Lindsey Wilson College memorializes Lindsey Wilson,
a beloved member of the family of Mrs. Catherine Wilson, who was a direct de-
scendant of the Reverend Marcus Lindsey, an early itinerant minister in Kentucky.
Mrs. Wilson's gift made the beginning of the college possible.
The main buildings are beautifully and conveniently grouped on the ten acre
hill-top campus. The Administration Building, erected in 1903, houses the adminis-
trative offices, classrooms, and an auditorium-chapel on the first floor. The second
floor is practically given over to library purposes. The library contains 6,000 well-
selected volumes. Newspapers and carefully chosen magazines are also provided for
student use. The lower floor, well-lighted and ventilated, is utilized by the science
laboratories.
Philips Hall for girls, built in 1903, was named for Mrs. James Philips, of Lebanon,
Kentucky, whose initial gift encouraged its construction. It is an attractive two-story
brick building. It accommodates seventy girls. Faculty members occupy one wing of
this hall. A large living-room provides a home-like atmosphere for the enjoyment of
the students.
The boys' dormitory is a three-story brick building. Forty double rooms are for
the living and study room conveniences of the students. The Lounge is inviting for
leisure hours, and committee meetings.
A modern, sizeable gymnasium serves the recreational needs on the campus. The
college dining room and a well-equipped kitchen are located on the lower floor of
this building.
On the campus is a model training school building. Two main class-rooms with ad-
joining demonstration rooms are well equipped and furnish splendid facilities for ob-
servation and practice teaching of the first six grades of grammar school, under the
supervision of excellent critic teachers.
On the acreage allotted for farm purposes a dairy barn has been built. Garden
products and grain are grown. The products of the farm and dairy are used by the
college and contribute greatly toward reduced living costs.
True, the building of a college is a cooperative task. Throughout the years, the
citizens of Columbia and vicinity, the Conferences, and many other friends have been
loyal supporters of the institution, thus carrying on the service to young men and
women, so early envisioned by those who had faith and daring sufficient to undertake
the locating of an educational institution in that part of the state.
The service which Lindsey Wilson Junior College has already rendered should
challenge Kentucky Methodism and all others interested in Christian education to a
greater endeavor in its behalf. For a number of years, this splendid institution carried
on a high type of normal work. With the raising of educational standards, the Junior
College was begun in 1923.
The faith of the founders of Lindsey Wilson has been fully justified by the type
and character of the great number of preachers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, and persons
in numerous other professions which it has trained. Of the approximately 700 graduates
of the old Training School, and 792 graduates of the Junior College, more than 1,300
have become teachers, and over fifty have entered the ministry.
Ninety per cent of the teachers of Adair County are former students, and the sur-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 63>
rounding counties depend upon Lindsey Wilson for many of their teachers. Great is
the responsibility of those who go forth to teach the boys and girls of our schools today!
Fundamental to the life of the church, the nation, the world, is the type of Christian
leadership now being trained in the schoolrooms for the tomorrows of life.
Realizing the importance of this, the faculty of Lindsey Wilson take their task
seriously. They are fully aware that those who come to its campus need guidance and
counsel in the strengthening of those principles that are basic to an intelligent and re-
sponsible type of living for themselves, and as they give expression to those principles
in human relationships, wherever they choose to live and serve.
The educational requirements at Lindsey Wilson have been well met. The graduates
are readily admitted to the Junior Class of standard four-year colleges and universities.
Lindsey Wilson is on the "A" grade accredited list with the University of Kentucky,
and the Kentucky State Board of Education. It is a member of the Kentucky Asso-
ciation of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
Lindsey Wilson Junior College has a field which is particularly its own. The stu-
dents from about a dozen counties in Southern Kentucky look to it for their educational
opportunity. The territory runs about one hundred miles along the Kentucky-Ten-
nessee line, and is approximately fifty miles deep. Numerous other students from
other parts of Kentucky and bordering states make their way to Lindsey Wilson.
The territory which it serves most largely is a recruiting ground for teachers and
preachers, hundreds of whom have gone from her halls into these professions. Thus
the influence of Lindsey Wilson Junior College has been felt in the educational and
religious life of the State and nation.
No better field of service can be found within the State. Doctor M. E. Ligon, the
immediate past president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary
Schools said recently, "The Methodists have a real field for service in Southern Ken-
tucky, and Lindsey Wilson should be developed." Christians dare not let their in-
stitutions fail to meet the needs of this hour.
During the past decade only limited attention has been given to equipment needs,
and almost nothing has been done to build up Lindsey Wilson's endowment. These
items cannot longer be neglected. To meet the demand that will soon be made on this
institution, our physical plant must be improved by building a library, enlarging our
administration building, creating a worshipful chapel, improving the laboratory equip-
ment, and refurnishing the dormitories. We are planning to extend the curriculum by
expanding some departments, and adding others.
HISTORY OF UNION COLLEGE
(From College Bulletin)
Union College was founded in 1879 by a group of progressive citizens of Barbour-
ville, who formed a stock company and by donation secured the main part of the
present campus. In 1880 the first building was formally opened on the site of the
present Administration Building. Mr. A. H. Harritt, who was instrumental in the
organization of the school, was its first Principal. The local group soon discovered that
the debt, for the new building was too great for them to carry, and accordingly, in
1886, the buildings and property were ordered sold by the court. The Rev. Daniel
Stevenson, the President of Augusta Collegiate Institute at Augusta, Kentucky took
interest in Union College, and in 1886 purchased the property for the Board of
Education, Kentucky Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church. He became the first
President under the new management, and during his term was instrumental in en-
6— Vol. II
634 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
listing the- friendship of Mrs. Fanny Speed, who later left the College a legacy that
guaranteed its permanence.
Dr. Stevenson ranks as one of Kentucky's foremost educators. He was graduated
from Transylvania University when Dr. Henry Bascom was its President. As a
member of the Kentucky Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he was
one of the leaders who helped in founding Kentucky Wesleyan College, now located
at Winchester, Kentucky. In 1863 he was elected the first full-time superintendent
of public instruction in Kentucky and exercised a wide influence in popularizing public
education throughout the state. He brought this mature experience to Union College
and placed its objectives in clear view.
Upon the death of President Stevenson in 1897, the Rev James P. Faulkner, a
member of the first graduating class of Union College, was elected to succeed him.
During the administration of President Faulkner the college came into possession of
the bequest of Mrs. Fanny Speed, and from that time its expansion was marked.
During the same administration Fanny Speed Hall and the Central Heating Plant
were planned and the work on the buildings was begun. These buildings were not
available for use, however, until the beginning of the next administration, that of
Rev. James W. Easley, B.D., A.M., whose term of office began in 1905. During the
summer of 1906 the Administration Building was struck by lightning and burned.
One year later it was replaced, and Stevenson Hall, home for men, was erected. The
coming of the elective system and the broadening of the curriculum made a college
program seem like an impossible task to those in charge. The college department was
therefore discontinued in 1908, and for eight years the institution was maintained
only as an academy and an elementary school.
Upon the resignation of President Easley in 1910, the Hon. James D. Black, LL.D.,
of Barbourville, later Governor of Kentucky, became the fourth President of Union
College. The two years of President Black's connection with the school are remembered
as years of substantial growth.
For the next three years the school was under the leadership of President Percy L.
Ports, who for several years had been Professor of Natural Science. He was followed
in 1914 by the Rev. E. R. Overley, who served as Acting President. This was the
critical period in which the nature of the work that Union College should do in the
future was being determined.
In 1914 the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, through its
corresponding secretary, Dr. Thomas Nicholson, became interested in Union College
and assisted the Board of Education of the Kentucky Conference in planning for its
future. The Rev. Ezra T. Franklin, elected President in the same year, worked in
close cooperation with the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
soon formulated a far-reaching and practical program. In 1919 the Memorial Gym-
nasium was built; in 1925 a home for the President was completed. A development
program, inaugurated in 1921, helped to provide these improvements and materially
aided in increasing the invested funds of the college.
In 1927 a bequest of $50,000 was received from the estate of Mrs. Obed H. Wilson
for the establishing of a professorship known as the "Francis Landrum Professor of
Ethics and Moral Conduct."
President Franklin severed his relationship with Union College November 15, 1928,
to become President of Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas. He was succeeded
on February 1, 1929, by the Rev. John Owen Gross.
President Gross, from the beginning of his administration, emphasized the improve-
ment of instruction and the building of a strong faculty. His ambition was to see
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 635
Union College accredited by all the regional agencies. That his ambitions were reached
is well shown by the accreditation the college has now. President Gross succeeded
in improving the quality of work of Union College and in broadening the service to
the area which the institution renders. During his administration, land adjacent to
the campus was purchased, thus making possible further expansion of the college. A
modern maintenance building housing the central heating plant, workshops, and several
classrooms was erected during his administration.
President Gross resigned on August 20, 1938, to accept the position of President
of Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa. He was succeeded on November 4, 1938, by
Dr. Conway Boatman.
ACCREDIDATION
The college department was closed in 1908 and no other work at this level was given
until 1916. The need for a standard college in southeastern Kentucky became evident.
Therefore, a program was adopted to discontinue the elementary and secondary de-
partments and develop a college of liberal arts. In 1927 Union College was accredited
by the University of Kentucky as a four-year college of "A" grade; in 1928 it was
admitted to membership in the Association of Colleges and Universities of Kentucky;
in 1931 it was accredited by the University Senate of the Methodist Episcopal Church;
and in 1932 it was elected to membership in the Association of American Colleges.
On December 1, 1932, its program for full accreditation was realized when it was made
a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The Board
of Regents of the University of the State of New York placed Union College on its
accredited list in 1937.
Location
Union College is located in Barbourville, the county seat of Knox County, Kentucky,
near the southeastern corner of the state. It is within thirty-five miles of the corner-
stone of three states — Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee. Barbourville is a town of about
3,000 population, located in a broad valley at the confluence of Richland Creek and the
Cumberland River. It is surrounded by low hills of the Cumberland Mountain range.
The town has such modern conveniences as natural gas, water works, electric lights,
and paved streets. There are Baptist, Disciple, and Methodist Churches, and two ac-
credited high schools, county and city. Barbourville is located on U. S. Highway 25E.
Buses that make connections with points north and south pass through the town
regularly. It is also on the Cumberland Valley Division of the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad.
Aim and Purpose
The constitution of Union College provides that it shall "devote its effort to the
interest of Christian education and to qualifying and equipping men and women to
engage creditably in the various employments, callings, and avocations of peaceful and
progressive society and to discharge honorably and usefully the various duties of life."
It is not a sectarian school, but is endeavoring to render impartial service to all who
may come, especially to the young people of the mountain territory in which it is
located. Union College endeavors to maintain a Christian atmosphere by securing for
its faculty those persons who can accept, heartily and without reserve, the ideals for
which the school stands. In its chapel exercises and special religious meetings it em-
phasizes the importance of accepting Christ as a Personal Redeemer, Constant Guide,
and inspiring Ideal.
636 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Buildings
Administration Building — This building was erected in 1907 on the site of the
one that was burned in 1906. It is a three-story structure of brick trimmed with
Tennessee marble; it contains the various classrooms and laboratories, the chapel, and
administrative offices. The ground floor also houses the kitchen and dining room.
Speed Arts Building — This building, which was formerly the Speed Hall Dormitory
for women, houses the Fine Arts and the Practical Arts divisions. Music and Art have
their studios and the Home Economics Division has its laboratories and class rooms in
this building.
Stevenson Hall — The dormitory for men is a two-story brick building of colonial
design. The rooms accommodate two students each. Some of the rooms have running
water.
Memorial Gymnasium — This building was erected in 1919 as a Memorial to the
Soldiers and Sailors of the World War. It contains a regulation basketball court,
showers, lockers, and dressing rooms.
Library Building — Union's new library, which houses approximately 16,000 books,
and receives regularly 290 periodicals, was opened for use January 13, 1941. A large
reading room with space for 150 readers houses the reference books, current magazines,
and bound periodicals. Books reserved for special class use are shelved in a smaller
reading room on the second floor. In this room are also the books of fiction and the
books given the International Relations Club by the Carnegie Corporation for Inter-
national Peace. Well equipped workrooms and tastefully furnished lounge rooms add
to the efficiency and beauty of the building. The library was adequately furnished
throughout by Mrs. Abbie E. Stewart, of Des Moines, Iowa, in memory of her hus-
band, George Stewart.
Baldwin Place — This part of the campus was made possible by the gifts of Mr.
and Mrs. F. E. Baldwin, Elmira, New York. The President's home is located on
this site.
Maintenance Building — This building was erected in 1937. It is a two-story
brick building that contains the central heating plant and college shops. The wood-
working shop was equipped by a gift made from the estate of the late Robert Norton,
of New Albany, Indiana.
Campus Cottage — This, the oldest building on the campus, a frame cottage of six
rooms, was erected and occupied by Dr. Stevenson during his Presidency.
KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE
(From Bulletin of Kentucky Wesleyan College, 1943-1944)
Act of Incorporation
By the approval of the Legislature of Kentucky on January 12, 1860, the Board of
Education of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
became a corporate body. A part of this act is given below:
Section 1. That the Rev. W. C. Sanby, Rev. Daniel Stevenson, Rev. John H. Linn,
Rev. John W. Cunningham, Rev. John C. Harrison, Rev. Robert Nimer, David
Thornton, Moreau Brown, Hiram Shaw, B. P. Tevis, William Nunn and A. G. Stitt
and their successors in office to be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and
corporate, by the name and style of the Board of Education of the Kentucky Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the right and power of ex-
ercising all and singular privileges, incidents and capacities of corporation aggregate,
to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, grant or receive contract or be con-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 637
tracted with, and do and perform all other proper and necessary acts and things as
natural persons; to purchase and hold land or other real estate and personal property
as the Educational Fund of said Conference; to have and to use a common seal, and
change the same at pleasure; to appoint as Executive Committee of its own body, or
other persons members of said Church; to take charge of the college building and
grounds, with such other powers as may be granted by the Board of Education, and
within the provisions of this Act of Incorporation; to make by-laws and ordinances for
the proper conduct and government of said College; provided said by-laws and ordi-
nances shall not be inconsistent with the Constitution and Statutes of the State; to
elect or appoint a President and such Professors, who shall compose the Faculty of
said College, as they may think proper, and any teachers or assistants that they may
think fit; to establish, change or abolish professorships, as the exigencies or interests of
the College may require; to fix the salaries of professors and teachers and to do and
perform all other acts necessary or expedient in sustaining said fund, and for the
proper conduct of said College so as to render them successful in accomplishing the
great object of their establishment, subject to the confirmation of the Conference.
Section 2. That the members of this Board, to be hereafter appointed, shall be
elected by the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at its
annual sessions. The said Conference may, at their pleasure, change the number of
the Board but there shall never be less than twelve or more than eighteen. A majority
of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; provided, such
official notice of time and place has been given as the Board may direct.
Section 7. That the Faculty of said College shall have authority to confer degrees
as they think just and proper, and to make all such needful rules and regulations in
regard to the conduct of the pupils, and to the course of exercise and instruction that
they deem best; subject, however, at all times to the control of the Board of Education,
who may reject, revoke, modify or change the same as they may think proper.
Section 8. That the property and estate, real and personal held and owned by the
Board of Education under this Act, shall be free and exempt from taxation, whether
the same be for State, county or corporation purposes.
Section 12. That this Act shall take effect from its passage, but the Legislature
reserves the right to amend or repeal the same.
Under the above Charter, the Board of Education established Kentucky Wesleyan
College.
The following extracts are from the Article of Agreement for consideration of the
Board of Education of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and the Board of Education of the Louisville Annual Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, under the name of Joint Board of Education
of the Kentucky and Louisville Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
This agreement was made and entered into on the 25th day of February, 1926:
The Board of Education of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, and the Board of Education of the Louisville Annual Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, shall be, and are hereby, consoli-
dated into a single corporation, to be known as the "Joint Board of Education of the
Kentucky and Louisville Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South," and
the said corporation, under the name and style aforesaid, shall have its principal office
and place of business at Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky.
The object and purpose of said consolidated Corporation, shall be the maintenance
of Kentucky Wesleyan College, at Winchester, Kentucky, as a co-educational college,
the maintenance of the Logan College at Russellville, Kentucky, as a preparatory
638 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
school and as a Junior College for Women; the maintenance of Lindsey Wilson Junior
College at Columbia, Kentucky, as a preparatory school and Junior College; the
maintenance of such other educational institutions as it deems necessary or proper,
and the general promotion of education along literary, scientific, moral and religious
lines, within the territory embraced by the two aforesaid Conferences of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South.
It may acquire by gift, devise, bequest, purchase or otherwise, and hold its general
purposes or for specific purposes real and personal property; and (subject to specific
limitations) may sell, convey, lease, pledge, or mortgage its real and personal estate;
and, in general, it may exercise all the powers conferred by the general law upon cor-
porate bodies.
All funds and properties which have been donated, contributed or conveyed, to either
of said constituent corporations for the support or maintenance of special chairs or
schools or for any specific purpose, shall be held by said consolidated corporation and
dedicated to and used for such specific purpose or purposes, strictly in accordance with
and pursuant to the terms and conditions of such donation, gift or conveyance under
which same has been received.
The management and control of said corporation shall be vested in a board com-
posed of sixteen members, eight of whom shall be elected by the Louisville Annual
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and eight of whom shall be
elected by the Kentucky Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
said members to be nominated to their respective conferences by such method as each
conferences may determine. One-half of each of said groups of eight shall be com-
posed of clergy and one-half of laymen.
Changes in Charter Authorized
The Kentucky and Louisville Conferences in their 1939 annual sessions authorized
revision of the charter of the Joint Board as follows:
Resolved: That the Joint Board of Education of the Kentucky and Louisville Con-
ferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, be and that it is hereby authorized
and empowered to amend the articles of Incorporation of the said Joint Board of
Education so as to make it read "The Methodist Church" where ever now occurs
'The Methodist Episcopal Church, South," and also to change the time of the Annual
Meeting of the said "Joint Board of Education" from Tuesday after the third Sunday
in August to a time upon which they shall agree, and also to so amend the said
Articles of Incorporation as to increase the membership of the said Joint Board of
Education from sixteen members to twenty- four members; the sixteen members to be
elected as at present and the eight additional members, to be known as members at
large, to be nominated by the Joint Board of Education and one-half of them to be con-
firmed by the Kentucky Conference and the other half by the Louisville Conference of
the Methodist Church. The terms of the office of said members at large to be for
four years each.
The said Joint Board of Education is authorized so to amend the Articles of In-
corporation as to enable them to fix the quorum necessary for the transaction of
business.
Historical Statement
The first Methodist Institution of Learning west of the Allegheny Mountains was
located in Jessamine County overlooking the Kentucky River and was called Bethel
Academy. Later Bethel Academy was reorganized into Augusta College in the northern
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 639
section of the state. Then for a period of years prior to the Civil War the Methodists
in Kentucky had the supervision of Transylvania University. On January 12, 1860,
the Board of Education of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, South, was chartered. During the period of the Civil War progress
was retarded and it was not until 1866 that Kentucky Wesleyan College began to
function as an educational institution. Since that time it has had a leading part in the
educational work of the state.
First at Millersburg and then at Winchester it has developed steadily. Perhaps no
other institution of like size has made a greater contribution in the way of leadership.
Its graduates are in all walks of life. "Kentucky Wesleyan College has been the
mother of Schools, Colleges and College Presidents." Four or five schools or colleges
have been founded by her Alumni and nine of her graduates have become College
Presidents. Many of the college trained ministers in Kentucky Methodism have been
Kentucky Wesleyan men. A large number have gone to other Conferences. It is
represented on many Mission Fields where our Church operates. Leading bankers,
lawyers, merchants, and men in industrial enterprises look to Wesleyan as their Alma
Mater.
By the agreement entered into on the 25 th day of February, 1926, Kentucky Wes-
leyan College became the joint property of the Kentucky and Louisville Conferences.
It is now a co-educational institution. As such it is helping to build a ministry and a
laity for all of Kentucky Methodism.
Accreditation
Kentucky Wesleyan College is a full member of the Association of American Col-
leges. It is approved for the training of ministers by the University Senate of the
Methodist Church.
Kentucky Wesleyan College is a member of the Kentucky Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools. Standard requirements for Admission, for Graduation, etc.,
are fixed by the University of Kentucky and are strictly complied with by this institu-
tion. In this way our work is standardized on the basis of four years of college work
and is accredited by the University of Kentucky.
The college is practicaly free from debt and is now in the midst of a campaign to
raise $500,000 for permanent endowment and equipment.
Kentucky Wesleyan College is on the non-member list of the Southern Association
of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In this relationship it pays full dues and is ex-
amined annually. It expects to apply for full membership as soon as its endowment
limitations have been removed.
The scholastic credits of Kentucky Wesleyan students are easily transferred at full
value to other institutions, both in Kentucky and in other states.
Our graduates have no difficulty in meeting entrance requirements to the great
universities for graduate study and professional training. Year after year, Wesleyan
takes pride in the records made by our ambitious scholars who continue to achieve
distinction in the fields of post-graduate study.
Action Taken by Kentucky Conferences
In the Fall of 1940, the Kentucky and Louisville Conference of the Methodist
Church appointed a Joint Commission of Education Survey. This Commission re-
ported to the two conferences at their Fall sessions in 1941 as follows:
"That Kentucky Wesleyan College is so located as to be in a position to serve the
needs of the entire state; and that, while it is true that it is located in the vicinity of
640 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
other colleges, this feature may have its advantages as well as its disadvantages.
t?That the best thing that Kentucky Methodism can do, therefore, is to concentrate
its efforts in the development and maintenance of a full accredited college at Win-
chester."
Aim and Purpose
The Christian College
The goal of the Christian College is Christian character, but the attainment of this
goal will include many of the aims which are common to all colleges. Among these
are scholarship, moral culture, physical training, cultivation of respect for law, training
for citizenship, equipment for service, aesthetic development and preparation for
wholesome social enjoyment.
But the Christian College while having in common with private and state institutions
these aims and ideals, must have consciously a goal which is definitely and consistently
Christian. It must give Christian interpretation to the facts of knowledge, provide a
Christian incentive to good citizenship, arouse a Christian motive for service, and nur-
ture a Christian spirit and ideal in the social relationships of every day life. Finally,
it must, through the attitude and example and instruction of its teachers, through all
courses of study as well as in Bible and religious education, and through its religious
activities and the atmosphere of its campus, bring its students into intimate fellowship
with Jesus Christ as Savior and Friend, as inspiration and guide, in all endeavors to
attain the goal of Christian character.
In the pursuit of these aims the Christian College must set up such standards of
thoroughness and efficiency as will command the recognition of the educational world,
to the end that its certificates and diplomas will be accepted at face value wherever
presented. It must offer an adequate course of study, must provide first class facilities
and equipment for instruction, and must employ a faculty equal to the best in ability
and teaching power. It must have financial support commensurate with these aims;
and being without legislative backing, must rely upon endowment and the contributions
of the Church.
Kentucky Wesleyan College consciously accepts these aims. It writes the Christian
purpose at the center of its program, strives definitely to attain it, and desires to include
in its faculty those, and those only, whc will join heartily in the effort to attain them.
Location
Winchester
Kentucky Wesleyan College is fortunate in its location. Winchester is a thriving
city of varied industries, the county seat of Clark County, and beautifully situated in
the rich blue grass region of Kentucky. Winchester's railroad connections are ideal,
the town being located at a point of intersection of two important railroads — The
Louisville and Nashville and the Chesapeake and Ohio. Convenient bus schedules are
in operation. Federal highways 60 and 227 intersect at Winchester and state highways
15 and 89 offer important outlets to the rapidly developing mountain sections.
PIKEVILLE COLLEGE
(From College Bulletin)
Fifty-four years ago Ebenezer Presbytery in the Synod of Kentucky, Presbyterian
Church, U. S. A., appointed a committee consisting of Rev. W. C. Condit, D.D.,
Ashland, Kentucky, and Rev. Samuel B. Alderson, D.D., Maysville, Kentucky, to make
a trip up the Big Sandy River to select a location for a school for the higher education
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 641
of the youth of this section. After visiting each county seat in the valley, their judg-
ment was that Pikesville should be selected as the location for such an institution and,
as the result of their report to Presbytery, the Pikeville Collegiate Institute was estab-
lished. The subsequent development of Pikeville and Pike County has demonstrated
the wisdom of these men in making their choice for the location of the Presbyterial
School.
The success with which the institution has been crowned has been due in no small
measure to the untiring efforts of Dr. Condit and his church. He was a member of
the Board of Trustees from the date of its organization to the time of his death, and
was ever alive to the interests of the school.
In the summer of 1889 the first building was erected and Rev. David Blyth, who
had just graduated from Lane Seminary, was placed in charge as principal and also
as pastor of the church. Mr. Blyth was a man of great energy, and during the three
years of his incumbency the school made rapid progress and took first rank among
the best schools of its grade in Eastern Kentucky. Hendricks Hall was erected during
his incumbency. A severe attack of typhoid fever left Mr. Blyth unable to continue
the work. His three years of effort were not in vain; the people speak in the highest
terms of the work he did while here. His death occurred on December 5, 1940.
Until 1896 the institution was affected by general unfavorable conditions through-
out the nation. During the principalship of Reverend Harvey Hammett, and two
years later during the term of the Reverend T. M. Cornelison, progress was made.
However, the future of the institution began to be entirely assured as the devotion and
personality of Reverend James F. Record began to express themselves. Assuming the
headship of the institution in 1899 he continued without interruption for twelve years
and attendance practically quadrupled. Reverend J. P. Whitehead was president of
the college from 1911 to 1915, at which time Dr. Record returned.
Of the first trustees of the institution, none are now living. The members of the
first Board of Trustees were Rev. W. G Condit, D.D.; Rev. W. S. Fulton, D.D,;
Mr. W. M. Connolly, Mr. John Simpson, Mr. James H. Hatcher, Mr. Charles M.
Parsons and Mr. F. B. Trusell. The records of the college reveal constantly the de-
votion and wisdom of this unusual body of trustees. The possibilities of Pikeville
College touched their imaginations, and most of them gave generously of their time
and means to its support.
When Dr. Record resumed the presidency of the institution, which was now invariably
spoken of as "the college," he was beginning a term of uninterupted service lasting
seventeen years. Made president emeritus by the action of the Board of Trustees in
September, 1932, his counsel was not withdrawn from the college until his death on
May 25, 1935. The expansion of the institution during Dr. Record's term was out-
standing. In 1918 one student pursued college courses; fourteen years later the college
enrollment was 366. Not only was the preparatory department admitted to member-
ship in the Southern Association of College and Secondary Schools in 1925, but the
college work of the institution was recognized and the junior college became a member
in 1931.
Wickham Chapel, in the administration building, and Wickham Hall were the
magnificent gifts of Mrs. Delos O. Wickham of New York. It is difficult to over-
estimate the influence of the gifts of this devoted friend of the college throughout
Dr. Record's administration. In addition to these buildings erected, the institution
was bequeathed a considerable portion of her estate in 1933. Wickham Chapel stands
perpetually as a living memorial to Delos O. Wickham, her husband.
Another magnificent gift to Pikeville College came from John A. Simpson, of
642 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Covington, in memory of his sister, Lucinda Derriana Simpson, in the form of a com-
modious dormitory for women. Mr. Simpson had in mind a Christian home for
women and provided that the dormitory be called "The Derriana."
The late Mrs. William Thaw, of Pittsburgh, was another constant friend of the in-
stitution during Dr. Record's presidency, being a very generous donor to the administra-
tion building.
Hendricks Hall, the first building erected on the old campus beside the Big Sandy
River, commemorates the name and important work of the Reverend Dr. James P.
Hendricks, Synodical Superintendent of Home Missions. The second building to be
erected on the "old campus" was the brick building now occupied by the academy and
the training school.
Dr. D. McDonald, successor to Dr. Hendricks as Synodical superintendent, was
another loyal supporter and constant adviser of the institution. The Woman's Mis-
sionary Societies of Ebenezer Presbytery made much of Pikeville College in their
programs of prayer and work; their contributions and interest provided a constant
source of encouragement to trustees and faculty.
Dean Frank D. McClelland was made acting President of the college in September,
1932, and became president in October, 1933.
During the year following Dr. McClelland's resignation in October, 1937, the
institution functioned without a president. Mr. Norman A. Chrisman, treasurer of
the college, devoted much of his time to the institution's activities, serving in many
capacities as acting president without the actual title. During this year Mrs. N. A.
Chrisman, Mrs. W. H. Kirk, and Mr. H. C. Bowles effected notable expansion of the
library facilities, providing new furniture and new quarters for the library in memory
of their mother, Mrs. Nona Connolly Bowles, a member of the first graduating class of
the Academy. A grant of $3,000 from the Carnegie corporation for library books,
coupled with the new equipment, combined to make the library one of the notable
features of the college.
In September, 1938, President H. M. Crooks, LL.D., assumed the presidency of the
institution and served until his resignation in October, 1940.
Dean A. A. Page assumed ex officio the duties of the President of the College in
October, 1940, following Dr. Crooks' resignation. In October, 1941, Dean Page
was elected President of the college.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CENTRE COLLEGE IN KENTUCKY
(Nov., 1941)
By James H. Hewlett
Dean, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
For amost forty years before Centre College was chartered the Presbyterians of
Kentucky had been interested in education, and it is therefore necessary to review
briefly their earlier attempts to establish an institution of higher learning.
Transylvania Seminary was granted a charter by the Virginia Legislature in 1780
and with it several thousand acres of land. This institution was to be established in
what was then the province of Kentucky. Apparently, however, nothing further was
done until May 5, 1783, when the Virginia Assembly made another large grant of
land, set up a self-perpetuating board of trustees, and gave the Seminary authority to
confer the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The school did not actually open, though,
until 1785. Its location, says Calvin Morgan Fackler in his recent book, Early Days
in Danville (1941), "is still a controversial matter," but it was in or very near Dan-
7ISSM0
E&^-g::'"
>V"-"'
Courtesy, Danville Chamber of Commerce
"OLE CENTRE"
The original building of Centre College, located in Danville, and founded in
1819.
644 ASESQUI-CENTENN1AL
ville, and, according to Fackler, was unquestionably first in the home of Dr. David
Rice, one of the founders of Hampden-Sidney College, who had come to Kentucky
in 1783 and was chairman of the Transylvania Seminary Board. In fact, the majority
of those responsible for the establishment of this institution were Presbyterians, though
it had been endowed by the Virginia Assembly and was looked on as a State institu-
tion. The Reverend James Mitchell became the teacher at a salary of thirty pounds
a year. The tuition was "four pistoles" a year.
After a few years of struggling existence this school, in 1788, was moved to Lexington.
Soon, however, a division took place, which Dr. William C. Young in his inaugural
address as president of Centre College explained as follows:
In furtherance of the wild and universal propaganda inaugurated by the French revolutionists,
its emissaries of the blood-born atheistic young republic had penetrated even to this distant
wilderness land. Sympathy with their political views had prepared a large number of the
prominent citizens of Lexington to accept their religious, or rather irreligious, sentiments and
theories. A determined attempt was made by them to secure control of public instruction.
Their efforts, despite the most earnest resistance on the part of the Presbyterians were crowned
with success, and in 1794 the teacher of Transylvania Seminary, Rev. James Moore, a Presby-
terian minister, was ejected by the Board of Trustees. The Presbytery of Transylvania at once
inaugurated measures to found an independent college under their own control, in which their
sons might enjoy the advantages of an education without the contamination of their religious
principles, and which' might furnish the churches with an able and faithful ministry.
At their spring meeting in 1794 it was resolved to establish at Pisgah, the seat of a strong
Presbyterian Church, about nine miles from Lexington, a grammar school and a seminary.
Thus was set up what is known as the Kentucky Academy. It seems to have opened
in October, 1795. Among the donors to the new school were John Adams and George
Washington, each contributing a hundred dollars. But both sides to the controversy
seem to have desired a reunion of the Kentucky Academy and Transylvania Seminary,
and so in December, 1798, their union was consummated under conditions highly favor-
able to the Presbyterians. Dr. Young (loc. cit.) said:
Everything which the Presbyterians could reasonably demand, including a majority of the
Board of Trustees, and thus substantial control of the new college, being offered, the overtures
were accepted, the right of ecclesiastical oversight was surrendered, and the two institutions,
under the imposing title of Transylvania University, were in 1798 merged into one.
The Presbyterians must have had a dominant influence over the new University and
conditions apparently continued to be reasonably satisfactory for about twenty years.
Then, just why it is not clear, the Legislature of the State removed the old Board and
appointed a new Board, which was unsatisfactory to the Presbyterians. Dr. Honore
Holley, of New England, whom Dr. Young described as a "gifted, brilliant man, but
whose religious opinions were most repugnant to Presbyterians," was elected president.
Especially alarmed, they withdrew their patronage from the Lexington university,
applied to the Legislature for a charter, and founded a college of their own.1
This new college was chartered by the Kentucky Legislature January 21, 1819, and
was called Centre College, since it was located in Danville, in the central part of the
State. It was not under the control of the church, though Presbyterian influence pre-
dominated, and the board, of which Governor Isaac Shelby was chairman, was self-
perpetuating. Section 4 of the charter provided that "No religious doctrines peculiar
to any one sect of Christians shall be inculcated by any professor in said college." An
amendment to the charter, "approved December 27, 1824, recited that the Divines and
Elders of the Presbyterian Church of Kentucky had offered to give to the trustees of
Centre College of Kentucky $20,000, provided that an agreement reducing the number
of trustees (from nineteen) to eleven and calling for their election by the Synod of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America would be ratified by the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 645
Legislature. The agreement was in terms approved by this amendment, and the college
thus passed under the control of the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. By act approved
February 1, 1830, the number of trustees was increased to nineteen, the original num-
ber.""
A crisis faced the college because of the slavery question. According to the courts,
its control was vested in the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. (the Northern Presbyterians) ,
and so the Southern Presbyterians withdrew and by a charter approved March 3, 1873,
established Central University at Richmond, Kentucky. In a brief historical sketch it
is impossible to give a detailed account of Central University. During its existence of
approximately forty years it did a distinguished piece of educational work and sent out
a remarkable number of graduates. The two institutions remained separated until 1901
when an agreement was drawn up and accepted for their consolidation. By its terms
the consolidated institution was to be known as Central University of Kentucky and
composed of several schools or colleges, including a medical college, located at Louis-
ville. The college at Danville was to give instruction in the arts and sciences and was
to be known as the Centre College of Kentucky. The board of trustees was to consist
of twenty-four members, half to be elected by the Synod of Kentucky of the Presby-
terian Church U. S. A. and half by the Synod of Kentucky of the Presbyterian Church
U. S. Thus were happily and permanently united these two sister institutions of
Presbyterianism in Kentucky.
After 1907 Centre College was for a time an independent institution with a self-
perpetuating board of twenty-four members. In 1918, the name of the corporation
was changed from Central University to its original name, Centre College of Kentucky,
which the college of liberal arts had always held. By that time the other schools that
composed the "University" had been discontinued or given independent control. In
1921, however, again Centre passed under the control of the two branches of the
Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, but the control was somewhat limited in that the
board nominated its members and the synods confirmed them. Also, the article for-
bidding denominationalism was adopted in the following amended form: "No de-
nominational or sectarian test shall be applied to the admission of students and no
religious doctrine peculiar to any sect of Christians shall be inculcated by any professor
in the said college."'
Until 1926 Centre College had always been a college for men. But in that year it
united with Kentucky College for Women, which had been established in Danville in
1854 under the name of Henderson Institute and was widely known for many years
as Caldwell College. The result of the merger, says the catalogue of 1941,
is that Centre College now operates two divisions, a college for men and a college for women,
under the plan of coordinate education which has been tested and proved in the experience
of such coordinate institutions as Harvard and Radcliffe, Columbia and Barnard, Brown and
Pembroke Hall, Tulane and Sophie Newcomb, and Duke University. Both divisions of Centre
give the standard four year course in the arts and sciences. The subjects are substantially
the same in both colleges, although' a few courses are open only to men and a few are open
only to women. Such courses are clearly indicated in this catalogue. Neither division is co-
educational, but each profits from its relationship with the other. Coordinate education avoids
the distractions of co-education and also the restrictions of unrelated institutions for men and
women. Centre College is the only college in Kentucky that maintains separate divisions for
men and women.4
In the consolidation agreement of Centre College and Kentucky College for Women
an important change was made in the election of trustees, which is still in force. Out
of each annual class of six, three trustees are confirmed by the Synod of Kentucky of
the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. and two by the Synod of the Presbyterian Church
U. S. and the sixth is presented by the Alumni Association of Centre College. It
646 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
should be noted too that the Board of Trustees elects and that the synods merely con-
firm or ratify. A clause practically the same as that in the charter of 1819 was also
included which prohibits the application of denominational or sectarian tests in the
admission of students or the teaching of religious doctrines peculiar to any one sect
of Christians.
The Presbyterians who established Centre College realized from the beginning that
to be strong academically the college must be strong financially. Some of its most
outstanding presidents have sought especially, therefore, to make its financial founda-
tions sure. Dr. John C. Young, who was president from 1830 to 1857, was an example
of such a spirit. "He found the College," says his son, W. C. Young, "without repu-
tation, without endowment, without students, but he was young, hopeful, and earnest.
. . . An organized and successful effort was made to endow it. Before his death, Dr.
Young saw a permanent fund of more than $100,000 provided for the support of the
school."5 When Dr. W. C. Young himself became president (1888), he felt that
"The immediate pressing need of the College was a large increase of its endowment,
and to this work, by direction of the Board of Trustees and with the hearty endorse-
ment of the Synod, I addressed myself."' In his first year he added $75,000 to the
permanent endowment. At the beginning of his second year he declared that an
additional $75,000 was a "pressing, immediate necessity. That during the present
collegiate year it will be secured I am most hopeful."
Dr. W. A. Ganfield (president from 1915 to 1921), with the full cooperation of
the Board of Trustees, set up a plan by which the General Education Board offered
to give Centre College $200,000 for endowment provided the College would raise an
additional sum amounting to at least $400,000. This campaign for $600,000 addi-
tional endowment was completed in 1922 during the administration of Dr. R. Ames
Montgomery. Since that time other gifts have come to the college, including that of
the late Guy E. Wiseman, a devoted alumnus and faithful trustee, exceeding $400,000,
so that at present the endowment is more than a million and a half, and it is hoped
that it will go beyond two million by 1944, when Centre celebrates its one hundred
and twenty-fifth anniversary.
Centre College has supported or led in every movement in Kentucky to advance the
standards for admission to college and to improve higher education both in this State
and the South. The late Frank L. Rainey, a former dean of Centre, was for many
years secretary of the Kentucky College Association and served on each of the four
committees of that association which revised upwards the standards for admission to
college. When Dr. F. W. Hinitt was made president of Centre in 1904, the same year
in which the institution became the first Kentucky member of the Southern Association,
he began at once to raise its standards. The College had made it a rule to admit
students only on examination, excusing those, however, that came from academies or
high schools that Centre had placed on its accredited list. In 1905 thirty- two schools
were on this list, fifteen of them being private. In the catalogue for 1907-08 appears
the first statement regarding high school units. On Dr. Hinitt's recommendation to
the Board, January 5, 1907, fourteen were required for entrance, thirteen of which
were prescribed as follows: Latin, 4 units; English, 3; Mathematics and Greek, 2
each; history and science, 1 each. That the schools in Kentucky were not meeting
such high standards is proved by the following statement in the Catalogue of that
year (p. 40) :
In view of the fact that many High Schools and Academies, naturally tributary to the College,
do not fully prepare their graduates to meet the requirements for admission to a College with
so high a grade, special arrangements are made by which this preparation may be supplemented.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 647
Students are admitted to College provided they have at least eleven units credit, and by taking
extra studies these deficiencies can be made up in the first two years.
The Catalogue of 1909-10 states (p. 40) that a committee of the Association oi
Kentucky Colleges was then examining the academies and high schools of Kentucky
and would submit an accredited list to each college. In that year Centre had only
93 students, excluding specials, but this was a good number, since at that time in the
whole State there were only 54 public high schools and 29 private academies, and in
1939-40 there were 529 and 73 respectively. During Dr. Hinitt's administration, Centre
advanced its standards of admission to the present level, in spite of the few preparatory
schools then able to meet them.
If an institution of learning is to be judged by its product, Centre College may well
be proud of its record. In its life of almost a century and a quarter, it has sent out
a remarkable number of graduates who have attained distinction in public service, in
the ministry, in education, in business, and in many other fields. Space is not available
to name even some of the most notable of them.
For forty years the Presbyterians in Kentucky were trying to establish a permanent
church college in that State. Through persistent effort, sacrifice, and prayer, Centre
College, at Danville, came into being, though for a time they also supported Central
University at Richmond. The same spirit that has fostered the institution so many
years is even now perfecting and implementing plans to make yet stronger the financial,
academic, and Christian foundations of Old Centre, and hoping for the consummation
of many of these plans in 1944, the one hundred and twenty-fifth year of its founding.
In giving this background for the founding of Centre College, I have not mentioned
the Danville Academy, since Mr. Calvin Fackler in his book, cited above, has, it
seems to me, raised serious doubt that there ever was such an institution in actual
existence in Danville. See pages 50, 100-101 of Early Days in Danville.
C. J. Turck, "The Legal History of Centre College," an unpublished article on
file at Centre.
Minutes of the Board, October 5, 1921.
'Bulletin, p. 24.
"'"Inaugural Address," Catalogue (1890) , p. 16.
Ibid., p. 19.
MURRAY STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
Two Decades of Its History
The Beginning
To George Colvin, formerly State Superintendent of Public Instruction, should be
given the credit for starting the movement which led to the establishment of Murray
State Teachers College. On his recommendation a law was enacted authorizing a
comprehensive survey of the schools of Kentucky. One of the recommendations of the
survey commission which was enacted into law provided for the establishment of two
additional state normal schools — one to be located in Western Kentucky, the other
in Eastern Kentucky. The State Board of Education was to be the governing body
of each school when it was established.
On September 7, 1922, Murray was chosen as the site of the western school which
at a later date was named the Murray State Normal School.
On July 28, 1923, the State Board of Education chose Dr. John W. Carr President
of the Murray State Normal School. He asumed his official duties at once.
On September 24, 1923, the school began operation in the Murray High School
648 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
building with a faculty of five members. Before the close of the first year there were
sixteen members of the faculty. The new institution was of junior college rank.
During the first semester there were 87 college students and 120 high school students.
The training school was not organized until the summer of 1924.
Student activities began soon after the school was opened — literary societies, college
clubs, musical organizations. The first football team was in the fall of 1923.
The first building was erected but not occupied during the first year — cost of build-
ing and campus, approximately $116,000.00. Funds for building and campus were
donated by the citizens of Murray and Calloway County.
During the first year 787 different students were enrolled — 365 college students,
311 high school students, and 111 elementary students in the training school. The
first graduating class from the Junior College (1924) consisted of fifteen members.
The first catalogue was published in the summer of 1924.
Such was the beginning of the Murray State Normal School.
BOARD OF REGENTS
The school when first established was governed by the State Board of Education.
In 1924 an Act was passed, providing for a Board of Regents as the governing body.
The Board consists of five members — four appointed by the Governor, and the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, ex officio member and chairman of the Board.
The members serve for a period of four years and receive no compensation for their
services. The first meeting of the Board of Regents was held April 14, 1924.
Since its establishment, twenty-one different persons have served on the Board — two
women and nineteen men. During all these years there has never been a faction in
the Board — seldom a dissenting vote. At all times the members have worked for the
best interest of the institution. They have cooperated in the selection and retention
of the best persons available as members of the faculty. They have given special
attention to the business affairs, including the planning and construction of the
different buildings. There have been no favorites. Everybody has had a fair deal.
The splendid progress of the institution during the two decades of its history has
been due largely to the interest, efficiency and devotion of the members of the Board
of Regents.
The names of the honorable members of the Board of Regents and the term or terms
which each served are as follows:
Dr. McHenry Rhoads, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort, 1924-
1928.
Mrs. Laurine Wells Lovett, Benton, 1924-1928.
Mr. James F. Wilson, Mayfield, 1924-1930.
Mr. G. Prentice Thomas, Cadiz, 1924-1930.
Mr. Thomas H. Stokes, Murray, 1924-1928 also 1932-1936.
Mr. W. C. Bell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort, 1928-1932.
Mrs. William H. Mason, Murray, 1928-1934.
Mr. G. P. Ordway, Kuttawa, 1928-1932.
Mr. S. J. Snook, Paducah, 1930-1934.
Mr. Claude T. Winslow, Mayfield, 1930-1932 also 1940-
Dr. James H. Richmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort,
1932-1936.
Mr. Bunk Gardner, Mayfield, 1932-1936.
Mr. Warren S. Swann, Murray, 1934-1935.
Mr. B. L. Trevathan, Benton, 1934-1936.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 649
Mr. Harry W. Peters, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort, 1936-
1940.
Dr. C. E. Crume, Clinton, 1936-
Mr. T. O. Turner, Murray, 1936-1940.
Mr. Joe Rogers, Barlow, 1936-1940.
Mr. Charles Ferguson, Smithland, 1936-
Mr. John W. Brooker, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort, 1940-
Mr. George Hart, Murray, 1940-
PRESIDENTS OF THE COLLEGE
Three different persons have had the honor of serving as president of the Murray
State Teachers College: Dr. John W. Carr from July 28, 1923, to May 1, 1926;
also from January 1, 1933, to January 6, 1936; Dr. Rainey T. Wells from May 1,
1926, to December 31, 1932; Dr. James H. Richmond since January 6, 1936.
FIRST ADMINISTRATION
During President Carr's first administration, the college was opened; the training
school begun; the course of study for the junior college was organized; the transition
was made from the junior college to the senior college; laws were enacted providing
a millage tax for maintenance, also providing for a Board of Regents for the control
of the college. A specific appropriation of $400,000.00 was made for buildings, equip-
ment and grounds. The law was also enacted authorizing the Board of Regents to
confer degrees. Three buildings were erected — Administration Building, Liberal Arts
Building, Rainey T. Wells Hall. The faculty was increased from eight members irt
the fall semester, 1923, to thirty-two during the spring semester, 1926. The enrollment
of college students increased also from 87 college students in the fall of 1923 to 568
in the spring of 1926.
In April, 1926, President Carr resigned and Dr. Rainey T. Wells was elected his
successor. At the time Dr. Wells became president, Dr. Carr became dean of faculty
and continued to serve in that capacity throughout President Wells' term of office.
SECOND ADMINISTRATION
During President Wells' administration (May 1, 1926, to December 31, 1932)
occurred the great development of the college. The attendance grew rapidly from
568 in the spring of 1926 to 1,189 in the spring of 1932. The faculty increased from
thirty- two in the spring of 1926 to eighty-nine in the summer of 1931. Every depart-
ment was more thoroughly organized, the laboratories were better equipped and the
training school was more thoroughly developed. The number of books in the library
was more than quadrupled. When Dr. Wells became president, not a student had
received a degree; by the summer of 1932, 467 had graduated. In February, 1928, the
college was admitted to the American Association of Teachers Colleges; in December
of the same year, it was admitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary
Schools. Each association ranked Murray as a "Class A" college.
During President Wells' administration, the material interests of the college made
rapid development. Five buildings were erected — Training School, Auditorium, Cen-
tral Heating Plant, Men's Dormitory and the Library Building. There were special
appropriations amounting to $750,000.00 for new buildings. The receipts from millage
and inheritance taxes increased from $150,866.12 in 1925-26 to $251,350.79 in 1930-31.
The great depression came during the last years of his administration. The receipts
from millage and inheritance taxes dropped from $251,350.79 in 1930-31 to $166,059.99
7— Vol. II
650 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
in 1932-33, a decrease of $85,290.80 or nearly thirty-four per cent in two years.
Drastic retrenchments were necessary. Building operations ceased; the number of
members of faculty decreased from eighty-six in the fall of 1931-32 to sixty-one in
the fall of 1932-33; the number of other employees was also reduced; salaries were
cut on an average of approximately thirty-three per cent; practically every other item of
the budget was greatly reduced. In spite of these retrenchments, a deficit of $130,000.00
was reported to the General Assembly of 1932, and a special appropriation for that
amount was made.
The proceeds from this special appropriation together with current income of the
college made it possible to close the fiscal year 1932-33 with all debts paid or provided
for, and the college virtually on a cash basis.
In December, 1932, President Wells resigned to become the General Attorney for
the Woodmen of the World. Dr. James H. Richmond, Superintendent of Public
Instruction, of Frankfort, Kentucky, was elected to succeed him. On account of the
school survey which was not completed at the time of his election, Dr. Richmond did
not deem it advisable to accept the presidency until after the completion of the educa-
tional survey and after other important educational matters then pending had been
disposed of.
On December 31, 1932, Dean John W. Carr was elected president of the Murray
State Teachers College for the second time. He assumed the duties of the office
January 1, 1933. It was understood that his term of office as president was at the
"pleasure of the Board of Regents" and that he would serve only until Dr. Richmond
was able to assume the duties of president. He continued to perform the duties -of
dean of the faculty also. At his request, he was given no additional remuneration while
serving as president.
THIRD ADMINISTRATION
The chief work of Dr. Carr during his second administration was to maintain the
morale of the faculty and students and to see that the standards of the college were not
lowered. He was especially concerned that there should be no deficit when Dr. Rich-
mond assumed his duties as president.
For professional reasons Dr. Richmond did not assume his duties as president until
after his term as Superintendent of Public Instruction had expired — January 6, 1936.
In the meantime, the junior high school of the training school had again become
a senior high school; the Department of Commerce had been established and was in
successful operation; twenty acres had been added to the campus; a concrete road had
been constructed about the north half of the campus; the main section of the stadium
had been built; plans and provisions had been made for the construction of the Health
and Home Economics buildings; fifteen members had been added to the faculty, and
the salaries of all members of the faculty had been slightly increased.
FOURTH ADMINISTRATION
Dr. James H. Richmond assumed his official duties as President of Murray State
Teachers College, January 6, 1936. At that time the world was in the midst of the
great Economic Depression. He continues as President at the close of the second
decade that the college has been in operation — Mid-Summer of 1943. At this time
the world is in the midst of World War II. Both the economic depression and World
War II greatly affected this institution. Yet in spite of all difficulties his administra-
tion continues to be eminently successful. In fact, difficulties in practically every
instance have been changed into assets.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 651
During the seven and a half years that he has been in office the state has provided
only $125,000.00 for permanent improvements. Yet during that time the following
improvements have been made:
The Health and Home Economics buildings have been constructed and equipped;
the President's Home has been purchased and remodeled; the college farm of 225
acres has been purchased and improved; the Warren Swann Men's Dormitory has been
constructed and equipped; the college campus has been enlarged; the Central Heating
Plant has been overhauled and enlarged; the Fine Arts Building has almost been com-
pleted; the Carlisle Cutchin Stadium has been improved.
More than half a million dollars worth of property has been acquired at a cost to
the state of only $125,000.00. This feat has been accomplished in accordance with
law by the college authorities cooperating with the P.W.A., the N.Y.A., the W.P.A.,
the College Holding Company and by the gifts of a few friends of the college. In
due course of time (from eight to twenty years) , the income from the farm and from
the new buildings will pay for all of these improvements without the state appropriating
another dollar.
In the meantime the students will have been greatly benefitted by having had the
use of these properties. Not only have these improvements been made, but hundreds of
students have had part time employment which has enabled them to acquire a college
education, who otherwise would have been deprived of that privilege.
Not only has the physical plant been greatly improved during Dr. Richmond's ad-
ministration but numerous other developments of great importance have been made.
Every department of the college has continued to grow, but five have had exceptional
growth — Agriculture, Commerce, Music, Physical Education, and Home Economics.
The faculty has not only increased in number but continues to grow in efficiency
not only in teaching subject matter but in guiding and inspiring youth.
In 1940 an outstanding study of the curriculum was made by the faculty in con-
junction with representatives of students, parents, school board members, representatives
of state and federal agencies, and teachers and administrators of local and adjacent
school systems.
In 1940 the Library Science Department was accredited as a library school by the
Southern Association of Colleges.
Beginning with the fall semester of 1940, a curriculum leading to the degree of
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture was offered.
Through the cooperation of the college with the Tennessee Valley Authority and
the Kentucky Library Extension Division, a Regional Library Project has been initiated
with the College Library as the regional center. This is a unique service which for some
years has been in successful operation.
In the summer of 1941 the graduate school was opened and has since been in suc-
cessful operation. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred for the first time in
1942.
At the request of the Civil Aeronautic Administration, the college in 1940 began a
Civilian Pilot Training Program which was continued for two years. During this period
132 college students received ground school and flight training.
For the last three years the National Youth Administration has maintained on the
college campus an out-of-school shop-training program and many young men and
women were trained there who are now doing work in various industries.
On December 16, 1942, the Board of Regents being in session, an important message
was received from the United States Navy, to wit: rrA Naval Flight Preparatory
School would be established at Murray State Teachers College." Only twenty such
652 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
schools were to be established in the United States. Murray was again fortunate.
On January 6, 1943, two hundred fifty naval cadets arrived. Two months later
600 cadets were on the campus and the school in full operation.
The establishment of the Naval Preparatory School at Murray at that time was an
event of importance to the College. Not only was the College able to do its bit to
win the war but, notwithstanding the decrease in attendance, the funds received from
the government helped materially in paying operating expenses for the year.
THE FACULTY
During the first semester the college was in operation there were eight members of
the faculty — five men and three women. One held the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
seven the Bachelors degree. At the close of the second decade there were eighty-four
members of the faculty — forty-seven men and thirty-seven women. Of the eighty-four
members of faculty, sixteen have the Doctors degree, sixty-five the Masters degree and
four the Bachelors degree. The faculty has not only increased in number but also in
scholarship, teaching ability, and especially in the ability to guide and inspire youth.
From the beginning the members of the faculty have been chosen and retained on
merit — scholarship, experience, training, and character. They have come not only
from Kentucky but from various other states. They have been trained in more than
twenty different colleges and universities. They are men and women of splendid
personal character who have not only taught by precept but by example. The splendid
achievements of this college would not have been possible without the loyal and hearty
cooperation of the faculty.
A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MOREHEAD STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
C. O. Peratt
Department of History and Political Science
(September, 1943)
The Morehead State Teachers College is one of the results of a shortage of public
school teachers in Kentucky after the close of World War I. The first step to remedy
the shortage was taken by the Legislative Committee of the Kentucky Education Asso-
ciation. This Committee recommended that a law be enacted providing for an educa-
tional survey of the State by a commission of five members, to be appointed by the
Governor. The Commission, which was to report its findings to the Governor, was
composed of Dr. W. A. Ganfield, President of Centre College, Danville, Chairman;
Alex G. Barret, lawyer and member of the Louisville Board of Education, Louisville;
J. L. Harman, President of the Bowling Green Business University, Bowling Green;
C. J. Hayden, President of the Springfield Board of Education, Springfield; and Miss
Katie McDaniel, formerly Superintendent of Christian County Schools, Hopkinsville.
The Commission secured from the General Education Board of New York City, the
services of a staff of experts under the direction of Dr. Frank P. Bachman, and after
a survey extending over a period of fifteen months, made its reports to the Governor
in 1921. Among its recommendations was one for the establishment of two normal
schools for the training of white elementary teachers, one to be located in Eastern
Kentucky, and one in Western Kentucky.
Acting under this recommendation, the General Assembly, 1922, passed an act pro-
viding for the establishment of two Normal Schools for the training of white elementary
teachers and appropriating money for the operation and maintenance thereof. This
act further provided that a commission of eight persons should select locations for the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 653
schools. Five of these were to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives, who was Honorable J. H. Thompson, of Bourbon County, and three by the
Lieutenant Governor, who was Honorable S. Thruston Ballard, of Louisville.
The Lieutenant Governor designated as members of the Commission, Professor J. L.
Harman, President of the Bowling Green Business University; Honorable Alex G.
Barret, lawyer and distinguished citizen of Louisville; and Judge Arthur Peter, lawyer
and former judge of Jefferson County. The Speaker of the House designated as
members of the Commission Judge Ed C. O'Rear, former Chief Justice of the Court
of Appeals; Honorable Thomas A. Combs, former State Senator and prominent business
man, of Lexington; Honorable W. S. Wallen, lawyer and legislator, Prestonsburg; and
Honorable Earl W. Senff, lawyer and County Judge of Montgomery County. Judge
O'Rear was elected chairman, and Judge Senff secretary, of the Commission.
The plan of this Commission was to select for the locations of the two schools the
two towns offering the greatest advantage in accessibility to students of the territory
they were to serve and in equipment already in existence or the equivalent in money
The citizens of Morehead offered to buy and turn over to the State a mission school
plant known as the Morehead Normal School, which had been in operation in that
town since 1887. This plant, containing sixty-five acres of land with three frame and
one brick building, was valued at $140,000.00. After considering all offers of locations
and after many futile efforts to reach a decision, the Commission met in Lexington
on November 25, 1922, and named Morehead as the home of the new school for the
Eastern section of the State and Murray for the Western section.
In the meantime, suit was instituted in the Franklin Circuit Court in order to
determine the constitutionality of the act and the extent of the Commission's duties.
Final decision in this case was not reached until May 15, 1923, when the Court of
Appeals affirmed the constitutionality of the act and defined the duties of the Com-
mission. Early in August, 1923, the Commission completed its work in connection
with the establishment of the schools. The management of the schools was then placed
in the hands of the State Board of Education, composed of the State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, George Colvin, the Attorney General, Thomas B. McGregor,
and the Secretary of State, Frederick Vaughan.
The State Board of Education elected as President of the Morehead school Pro-
fessor Frank C. Button, who had served for twenty-four years as head of the More-
head Normal School, and who at the time of his election had for twelve years served
the State of Kentucky as rural school supervisor in the employ of the General Educa-
tion Board of New York.
The General Assembly of 1924 enacted a law transferring the control of the two
new normal schools from the State Board of Education to two Boards of Regents —
one Board for Murray and one for Morehead. The members of these Boards were
to be appointed by the Governor, except the Chairman, who was to be the Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction.
The members of the first Board of Regents for Morehead were the Honorable
McHenry Rhoads, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort, Chairman; Hon-
orable Allie W. Young, Morehead, Secretary; Honorable Edward W. Pendleton,
Prestonsburg, Member; and Honorable J. B. Clark, Inez, Member. Various men and
women of prominence in Eastern Kentucky have served on the Board at different
times. At the present time it is composed of Honorable John W. Brooker, Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction, Frankfort; Mrs. Allie W. Young, Morehead; Honorable
Donald H. Putnam, Ashland; Honorable Ernest E. Shannon, Frankfort; and Honorable
Harry LaViers, Paintsville.
654 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
On September 24, 1923, the school opened with a faculty of nine and a student body
of less than one hundred. Before the close of the year the faculty had increased to
thirteen and the student body to two hundred fifty. The second year opened with a
faculty of twenty-four teachers, five administrative officers, and approximately two
hundred fifty students. Before the close of the second year the student body numbered
nearly five hundred. The peak of attendance was reached in 1935 when the student
body numbered one thousand and two hundred. During the third year there were
eleven administrative officers, and a faculty of twenty-six members. By 1943, the
regular faculty had grown to fifty-seven, and the administrative force to twenty-one.
At the close of the summer quarter in August, 1943, the College had conferred degrees
on 893 graduates.
When the school opened in 1923, there were on the grounds four buildings, a
dormitory for women, one for men, a building for classrooms and a building used for
chapel, library and administrative offices, all formerly the property of the old Morehead
Normal School. All of these original buildings have been supplanted by more sub-
stantial and modern ones.
Following is a list of the buildings with the dates of completion:
Administration Building February, 1926
Allie Young Hall, Dormitory for Girls June, 1926
First Power Plant late in fall, 1925
Fields Hall, Dormitory for Girls late in fall, 1927
Thompson Hall, Dormitory for Men late in fall, 1927
Auditorium-Gymnasium May, 1929
President's Residence June, 1929
Johnson Camden Library 1930
Jayne Memorial Stadium 1930
Senff Natatorium 1930
Breckinridge Training School . Spring, 1931
Second Power Plant (supplanting the first) 1937
Men's Hall, Dormitory for Men 1937
Science Hall 1937
The buildings erected between 1926 and 1931 were largely due to the untiring efforts
of Honorable Allie W. Young, who, during his service in the State Senate secured for
the school appropriations of $400,000.00 in 1924, $320,000.00 in 1926, $250,000.00 in
1928, and $250,000.00 in 1930.
All of these buildings are constructed of brick, stone, concrete and steel, with wood
furnishings. The style of architecture is Tudor Gothic. All buildings are equipped
with modern furniture and apparatus for conducting a college. The Library is especially
beautiful in its architectural design and in the material of which it is constructed.
To date the College has had four presidents. President Button, after a service of
six years, retired as the head of the college in August, 1929, and was succeeded by
Dr. John Howard Payne, who served as president until September, 1935. Mr. Harvey
A. Babb was president from 1935 to 1940. Since July, 1940, Dr. William H. Vaughan
has been president.
In the twenty years of its existence the Morehead State Teachers College has under-
gone considerable change in its organization and in name. It was first established to
train elementary school teachers and offered courses of the high school level leading to
certificates for teaching in the elementary branches. At the same time it offered two
years of college work, which led to a higher class elementary certificate. It was
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 65;
originally named the Morehead State Normal School. In 1926 this name was changed
by the General Assembly to the Morehead State Normal School and Teachers College.
Provision was at the same time made to grant certificates for teaching in high schools.
In 1930 the name was again changed by the General Assembly to the Morehead State
Teachers College.
In January, 1928, the College became a member of the Kentucky Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools. In 1930 it was admitted to membership in the Asso-
ciation of Colleges and Universities of the Southern States. In February, 1931, it
became a member of the American Association of Teachers Colleges.
Early in 1942 the college, along with many other colleges in the country, offered a
part of its facilities to the Navy for the training of Naval personnel for the war effort.
The administration of the college believed that training of civilians and the training of
military men could be carried on simultaneously and without conflict. In June, 1942,
the first contingent of Navy men arrived on the campus. These men are being taught
to be electricians on board fighting ships. Several members of the college faculty were
shifted from their regular teaching duties to be instructors of Mathematics and Elec-
tricity for the Navy men. More than twenty additional instructors were employed
to carry en the Navy program. The sailors enter and withdraw in relays of approxi-
mately 150 a month, each group remaining for sixteen weeks.
During the first year the Navy was on the campus, 1,800 Bluejackets spent four
months in Morehead. In this way the college is serving the nation in war as well
as in peace. During all this time the regular academic program of the college is
being carried on with full vigor and enthusiasm.
Since the United States of America declared war on the Axis nations, many of
the graduates, students and younger members of the faculty have joined the colors to
defend democracy and decency. They are to be found in all branches of the service
and in many parts of the globe. Already a few have paid the supreme sacrifice; all
have done honor to their college and their country.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SUE BENNETT COLLEGE
Back of the actual beginning of a school is the inspiration in some person's mind
and heart, and it is often hard to determine just where the idea started. Authentic
records are not always available, and those that are obtainable are often all too brief
to give a realistic picture of the total history.
The first item we find about Sue Bennett College seems to date back to the latter
part of the nineteenth century. At that time we have found that a minister of the
gospel, Reverend J. J. Dickey, was devoting his time and talents to maintaining a
school in the mountains of Kentucky fifty miles from any railroad. In spite of all
his effort the school needed other support or it would have to close.
This happened to be in the days of the Woman's Parsonage and Home Mission
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, consequently Mr. Dickey appealed
to the Kentucky Conference Society for support of his enterprise. The secretary of
this society was Miss Sue Bennett of Richmond, Kentucky, and this lady became ex-
ceedingly interested in the mountain people whom Mr. Dickey described to her. She
was able to see very clearly their crying need, and she determined to come to the
aid of the school.
Before her activities were hardly begun, her untimely death brought an end to the
project for the time being, and Mr. Dickey's school was sold to the Presbyterians.
It is quite true, however, that a person so filled with inspiration is bound to touch
656 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
other lives; and Miss Sue Bennett's sister, Miss Belle H. Bennett, determined to carry
on the work and establish another school in the mountain section of Kentucky. To
help her in this movement she secured the services of Reverend J. J. Dickey, Dr. Walter
Lambuth, Mrs. Jennie Morgan, Mrs. Sawyer, and Mrs. W. T. Poynter, President of
the Kentucky Conference Society.
This committee was untiring in its efforts to raise money to start the school. They
wrote letters soliciting gifts and went from place to place seeking to arouse people's
interest.
Manchester offered a site for the school, but at that time the people were unable to
raise their part of the money so the offer was withdrawn.
In the meantime, Mr. Dickey became interested in Laurel County as a prospective
site and he persuaded Miss Bennett to visit London to investigate the situation.
London was very accessible for a number of counties, the environment was good, so
that was the place where the location of the school was definitely fixed in 1894. The
citizens of London were so interested that they contributed $20,000 towards the cost.
The first name of the institution was Sue Bennett Memorial School and the work
actually started in a rented building in town, January 2, 1897. There were only three
teachers and seventy-five students. By the opening of the fall term in 1897 the first
building on the campus was ready for occupancy. It provided facilities for three
hundred students, and there were approximately two hundred and ten who enrolled
that term.
Eight cottages were built each of which provided accommodations for eight, ten or
twelve persons who brought furnishings and provisions from home. Sometimes a mother
or older sister acted as housekeeper. It was not until later that dormitories were erected.
The first president was Professor J. C. Lewis, a graduate of Bristol University, Eng-
land. He served in this capacity for twenty years.
In the beginning work was offered in elementary grades, high school and normal
school. One of Miss Bennett's greatest interests centered around the preparation of
teachers for the small rural schools, and teacher training has been stressed at Sue
Bennett from the very first. Special work was offered in music, elocution, art, Bible,
industries, and physical culture. The commercial department was added in 1901.
In 1917 President Lewis was succeeded by Professor A. J. Mohn of Ohio Wesleyan
College. He remained until 1922.
In 1922 Mr. Kenneth C. East, from the University of Texas, became president of
the college and held this position until 1942. Also in 1922 the junior college depart-
was recognized as a Grade B junior college, which enabled the students to receive state
teachers' certificates without having to take state examinations. Then in 1927 the Ken-
tucky Department of Education recognized the college as Grade A.
Three years later in 1930 the name of the school was changed from Sue Bennett
Memorial School to Sue Bennett College. In 1932 it was admitted to membership in
the Kentucky Association of Colleges and the Southern Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools. In 1933 the high school work was dropped; and at present Sue
Bennett offers two years of college work, including all courses required for the elemen-
tary teacher's certificate, and courses in business administration and music. Students
may specialize in business administration or teacher training, or may take the general
courses offered as a basis for further college work.
After the resignation of Mr. East in 1942, Miss Jeannetta P. Harrison, of Winter
Haven, Florida, became the acting president. Under her leadership Sue Bennett
College is taking further steps toward its primary goal — to develop those fundamental
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 657
ideals of life which make true Christian character and which will direct the students
into lives of greater service.
The growth since 1896 has been continuous, and along with the developing curricula
have come other changes. The campus has lost the unsightliness of its early days for
now many varieties of trees grow all over the place, shrubbery outlines all the build-
ings, and there is a beautiful flower garden. The physical plant is now worth approx-
imately $356,000 and includes two dormitories, two buildings for class use, a swim-
ming pool, and a gymnasium. The teacher training department is also well equipped
with two small demonstration schools, practical laboratories for those who are pre-
paring themselves for teaching in elementary schools. The college owns fifty-two acres
of land, including the campus, and a large part of the acreage has been developed
into a farm which supplies much of the food for the college.
Although Sue Bennett College is under the supervision of the Woman's Society of
Christian Service of the Methodist Church it is non-denominational in purpose and
practice and includes many persons from other churches.
Miss Bennett believed that the true function of any school is to develop personality
so that the individual may become a useful member of society; and certainly her
ideals and plans have been perpetuated by the labors and the sacrifices of those leaders
who have followed in her footsteps.
WESTERN KENTUCKY STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
Western Kentucky State Teachers College which is located in Bowling Green,
Warren County, Kentucky was created by a legislative act signed on March 21, 1906,
by Governor J. C. W. Beckham. Bowling Green, which had offered to donate property
valued at over $100,000 as a site for the school, was selected by the Locating Com-
mittee, and H. H. Cherry, then head of the Southern Normal School in Bowling Green,
was chosen as Western's first president.
The buildings, faculty, and student body of the old Southern Normal were ab-
sorbed by the new state institution which was operated at the Southern Normal site
until February 4, 1911.
It soon became apparent to the president and the Board of Regents that the old
Southern Normal grounds were entirely too small to take care of the future develop-
ment of the school. Consequently several tracts of land on the outskirts of Bowling
Green were considered as future sites of Western. Early in 1909 negotiations were
completed for the purchase of a tract of land beginning at the crest of a hill on the
southern edge of Bowling Green and extending southward between the Nashville and
Russellville roads. Included in the purchase were the buildings of Potter College, which
had recently suspended operations because of financial difficulties, and the home of
B. F. Cabell, the president of Potter College. The hill which was to be the future
home of Western rises 232 feet above the level of Barren River, which flows along the
north side of Bowling Green. The summit of the hill commands an excellent view of
the surrounding country. In 1909 the hill was almost entirely covered by a dense cedar
thicket, except for a small space cleared around the Potter College buildings, and
numerous outcroppings of limestone gave to it a very rugged appearance.
Although in 1909 the hill which was to be the home of Western was wild and rough,
it offered a splendid site for the development of a large school plant. Realizing this
fact and also the necessity of having the whole plant carefully planned from the first,
the Board of Regents early in 1909 employed a landscape architect and a building
architect to draw plans for the development of the school during the next twenty or
thirty years. In 1909 plans were drawn showing the location and arrangement of the
658 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
future Western buildings. Both of the original architects lived to see the Western
campus and buildings developed as they had planned them in 1909. Although changing
conditions through the years have altered the original plans somewhat, the general
landscaping of the campus and the arrangement and placement of buildings are es-
sentially the same as they were planned in 1909.
In the spring of 1917 the period of comparatively quiet but rapid growth and ad-
vancement, which Western had enjoyed since its removal to the hill in 1911, was rudely
interrupted by the entrance of the United States into the World War, but by 1920 the
expansion was going forward again. It was during this year that three new buildings
made their appearance, J. Whit Potter Hall (completed January 1921), the Cedar
House, and a temporary gymnasium. It was also during this year that an Industrial
Arts Department was organized, and the Department of Extension and Correspondence
was started.
In 1922 the Western Kentucky State Normal School was officially made a teachers
college by the Kentucky Legislature, and the history of the college following that event
is a story of rapid expansion and growth in buildings and equipment, faculty and
curricula.
In 1922 the principal buildings on the hill were the Administration Building, J. Whit
Potter Hall, Cedar House, Cabell Hall and Recitation Hall, and a temporary gym-
nasium. Only the first three of these now remain as a part of the physical plant.
Other buildings on the campus at the present time and the order of their completion
are the Training School (1925), Home Economics Building (1926), Library (1927).,
Heating Plant (1927), Stadium (1927), West Hall (1928), Industrial Arts Building
(1928), Physical Education Building (1930), President's Home (1931), Henry Hardin
Cherry Hall (1937), Music Building (1939), and the Kentucky Building (1939).
In addition to these buildings Western in 1928 leased the property of Ogden College
for twenty years. The Ogden property includes two buildings, Perry Snell Hall and the
Ogden Science Building.
Western's academic advancement kept stride with the physical expansion, as is in-
dicated by her admission to the American Association of Teachers Colleges in 1924, to
the Kentucky Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1925, and to the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1926.
When Western was elevated to the rank of teachers college, the general four-year
curriculum leading to the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees and the
College Certificate was the basic curriculum.
In 1930 an arts and science curriculum leading to the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor
of Science degrees was organized for the benefit of those students not planning to
enter the teaching profession. In 1931 a year of graduate work leading to the Masters
degree was added to the curricula. Graduate work was discontinued from the fall of
1936 to the summer of 1941.
After the certification laws passed by the legislature of 1934 became effective in
1935, there were in existence at Western fourteen curricula, only one of which was less
than four years.
The academic expansion of Western after 1922 is indicated not only by the increase
in the number and length of the curricula during that time, but also by the great in-
crease in the number of courses offered. During the last year of the Normal period
there were less than two hundred courses being offered at Western, whereas at the
present time there are more than five hundred.
In 1922 the number of books in the Western Library was slightly more than 11,000.
Today there are approximately 67,000 volumes reported by the Western Library. Of
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 659
this number approximately 12,000 volumes are in the Kentucky Library, which is
housed in the Kentucky Building, and approximately 5,000 are in a library used by
the Training School. The number of periodicals received at the library has trebled
since 1922, more than 300 being reported at the present time.
Since 1918, Western has had an infantry unit of the Reserve Officers Training
Corps. On June 19, 1924, the State Board of Vocational Education approved Western's
application for training teachers under the Smith-Hughes Act for the federally-aided
high schools of the state, and on June 19, 1924, the Federal Board for Vocational
Education concurred in the decision of the State Board. The work in the Agriculture
Department and Home Economics Department was expanded in order to meet the
requirements of the federal government for institution training teachers under the
Smith-Hughes Act. In connection with the Department of Agriculture the college
maintains a 120-acre farm which was included in the property leased from Ogden
College, a 556-acre farm which was purchased in 1934, and a 60-acre farm which is
used as a field laboratory for soils and agronomic plots. In addition to these facilities
50 acres adjoining the college campus is known as the agricultural campus. On it is
located an agricultural pavilion used for instructional purposes in livestock judging
and husbandry.
The first four-year degree class was graduated from Western in 1924. From 1924
through the school year 1942-1943 the institution granted a total of 4,517 degrees.
Of this number 4,394 were Bachelors degrees, and 123 were Masters degrees.
In athletics the college has established a national reputation and at the present time
is a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Kentucky Inter-
collegiate Athletic Conference, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 1922, when the Western Kentucky State Normal School was made a teachers
college, fifteen years had passed since the institution on January 22, 1907 first opened
its doors as a school. During all of that time H. H. Cherry had served as its president.
Fifteen more years elapsed between the time Western became a teachers college in 1922
and the death of H. H. Cherry on August 1, 1937.
During his thirty-year span as Western's president, the Western founder saw the
college grow from an humble beginning to a place of national prominence in the
teachers college field.
In September, 1937, Western's first president was succeeded by Dr. Paul L. Garrett,
who since 1915 has been engaged in school administration except from June, 1918, to
March, 1919, when he was in service in the United States Army.
Soon after Pearl Harbor, President Garrett offered the facilities of the college to
the United States Government to be used in connection with the war program, and
in April, 1943, the United States Army Air Force made Western one of its training
centers for air crew students.
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
The charter of the University of Louisville, granted by the legislature of Kentucky
on February 7, 1846, contemplated the founding of all the departments of a university
for the promotion of every branch of science, literature, and the liberal arts. Its basis
was to be the Louisville Medical Institute, then a flourishing institution; a law depart-
ment was to be at once established, and power was given to convert Louisville College,
the successor of old Jefferson Seminary, founded in 1816, into the collegiate department.
The proposed institution was, according to the plan of management adopted for the
Louisville Medical Institute in 1837, to be governed by a board of eleven trustees, who
were to be appointed by the mayor and city council of Louisville and were given the
660 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
right to confer all degrees usually conferred in colleges or universities. This board has
since exercised supervision over the original medical department and over the law de-
partment, which was soon added, but the contemplated conversion of Louisville College
into its academic department was never regularly completed, and so the University of
Louisville, as at present constituted, embraces only medical and law schools, located in
the city of Louisville. Jeiferson Seminary, or Louisville College as it came to be called
after 1830, is, however, worthy of some notice in this connection on account of the im-
portant educational position it held for some time in the early history of the city.
JEFFERSON SEMINARY
This was one of the State academies created by the act of February 10, 1798, which
gave to it an endowment of 6,000 acres of public land. An additional act of December
17, 1798, gave to it the privilege of raising $5,000 by lottery for building purposes.
The control of the proposed institution was vested originally in a board of eight trustees,
whose number was for some reason increased to sixteen in 1800. The land granted was
later surveyed and located in Union County, but no use seems ever to have been made
of the lottery privilege.
Nothing was done toward opening the school for several years, owing largely, it
seems, to the little interest taken in it on the part of its unwieldy board of trustees,
whose rights had several times to be confirmed by subsequent legislative action, but
owing partly, perhaps, to the lack of funds for inaugurating the enterprise. At last,
on July 2, 1813, the trustees, now reduced in number to ten, purchased for $800 a lot
of 2% acres on Eighth Street, between what is now Walnut and Green Streets, upon
which, soon after, a brick house, one and a half stories high, with two large ground
rooms opening toward Grayson Street, was erected.
In this building the school was opened in 1816, with the historian, Mann Butler, as
its first principal. Mr. Butler was assisted by Reuben Murray and William Thomp-
kins, the principal's salary being $600 a year and that of the other teachers $500 each.
The school term was six months in length, and the rate of tuition was $20 per term.
Between 40 and 50 students were in attendance upon the seminary during its first term.
It was from the beginning of comparatively high grade, and was the finishing school
for the more elementary oldfield schools then located throughout the city. In 1817 an
unsuccessful attempt was made to improve the institution's financial condition by start-
ing a town on its Union County lands, and in 1820 authority was obtained from the
legislature to dispose of these lands at auction. It does not appear how much was
realized from this transaction. In 1829 the plan of governing the school was much im-
proved by having the number of its trustees reduced to seven, who were appointed by
the county board of Jefferson County.
On September 30, 1830, inspired by the success of the new city school which had
taken away its principal, Mann Butler, its trustees secured legislative authority for
transferring one-half of its property to the city of Louisville for a high school. The
city accordingly took possession soon afterwards of the city property of the seminary,
which it converted into what was known as Louisville College, the city agreeing to
augment, as far as necessary, its tuition fees by an annual appropriation. Its first
regular college faculty, organized in 1830, was composed as follows: Rev. B. F. Farns-
worth, president and professor of intellectual and moral philosophy and political
economy; John H. Harney, professor of mathematics, natural science, and civil engi-
neering; James Brown, professor of the Latin and Greek languages and literatures;
Leonard Bliss, professor of belles-lettres and history; H. F. Farnsworth, tutor in the
preparatory department. Rather a modern tone is given to the school by the fact that
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 661
chairs of modern languages, of commercial science, and of agricultural and mechanical
arts were contemplated as future departments. These were, however, probably never
established.
Although popularly having the name of college and really doing considerable work
of collegiate grade, the legal title of the institution was still Jefferson Seminary until
January 17, 1840, when it was, by legislative action, regularly incorporated as Louisville
College, and became the official head of the city public-school system, then consisting
of primary and grammar schools and a college. The city was then to pay $2,000 a
year into the funds of the college and to receive in return 30 free scholarships for its
most deserving grammar school students. The college, however, seems later to have
received regular tuition fees for these pupils in addition to the regular appropriation,
Its faculty at this period in its history was an able one, including among its members
for some time Prof. Noble Butler, noted throughout the state as an eminent educator
and the author of popular text-books.
Under the legislative act of February 7, 1846, it was proposed to make the institu-
tion the academical department of the contemplated University of Louisville provided
for by the act, but this union was never regularly consummated, and by the terms of
the second charter of Louisville, adopted March 4, 1851, all tuition fees in Louisville
College were abolished, and it lost its identity in the city public-school system, of which
it has since remained a part, as the male high school. Some mention will again be made
of it in describing the public-school system of Louisville.
The old seminary property was sold in different parcels in 1845 and soon after,
and the proceeds subsequently used to erect on the university grounds, on Chestnut
street near Ninth street, the building of the law department of the university, which
has, however, since its construction been used almost exclusively as the home of the
Male high school, that school thus remaining, in location at least, if not otherwise, a
department of the university. As old Jefferson Seminary and Louisville College it had,
from the beginning, taken a high standing, partly on account of Mann Butler, its nrst
principal, and was for a long time the only seat of higher learning in the city. In this
capacity it furnished to many of the early citizens of Louisville the elements of a liberal
education, of the benefits of which they would otherwise have been deprived.
Medical Department
The Medical Department of the University of Louisville is the second oldest medical
school now in existence west of the Alleghenies.
In 1908 the following named Medical Schools, by mutual agreement of the respec-
tive Faculties, and in perfect accord, united and became the Medical Department of
the University of Louisville, transferring their properties, good will and prestige, and
their alumni are made alumni of the Medical Department of the University of
Louisville:
The Medical Department of the University of Louisville, Organized in 1837; The
Kentucky School of Medicine, Organized in 1850; The Louisville Medical College,
Organized in 1869; The Hospital College of Medicine, Organized in 1873; Medical
Department of Kentucky University, Organized in 1898.
These five schools have graduated 20,000 physicians, and now have in active prac-
tice nearly 10,000 alumni.
(Quoted from Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky)
662 A S E S Q U I -CENTENNIAL
CUMBERLAND COLLEGE
In September of the year 1886 there gathered at a little weather-beaten country
church in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky a few men representing eighteen Baptist
churches. It was the annual meeting of the Mt. Zion Association in a region contain-
ing about one hundred thousand children, and having only one small school that offered
as much as an academic education, and the charter of that school permitted the co-
education of whites and colored people. Though these few men had only a meager
common school education themselves, and some of them scarcely that, they felt the
responsibility of providing some means for the higher education of the children of the
Kentucky Mountains. Accordingly though their minutes show that they were very
poor — $366.00 was the total amount contributed by their eighteen churches during the
year 1887-88 to pastors' salaries — they solemnly passed a resolution under the leader-
ship of Rev. R. C. Meadris, looking toward the founding of a college.
Pursuant to that resolution the first building of the Williamsburg Institute was
erected in the fall of 1888. It was built of brick, and contained six or eight rooms,
only four of which were finished. School was opened on the first of January, 1889,
under the direction of Professor C. D. Garlough. Among the chief supporters of this
school at the beginning were Dr. A. Gatliff, J. M. Mahan, and J. W. Siler. Mr.
Mahan and Mr. Siler were both staunch friends and liberal contributors to the insti-
tute as long as they lived; and each provided in his will that in the course of time the
bulk of his estate (they had grown wealthy) , should come to the school Dr. Gatliff
was and is still the largest contributor.
Rev. W. J. Johnson, Principal of the school during the second year of its existence,
afterward raised, by a campaign among the Baptist churches of the State, the first
endowment fund. This campaign was too much for Mr. Johnson's strength and he
died soon after it was finished.
In the summer of 1890, E. E. Wood was called to the principalship of the institute,
which he held for three years. Dr. J. N. Prestridge was then elected President and
served in that capacity for three years, during which E. E. Wood was Vice-President.
At the end of that time, upon the resignation of Dr. Prestridge, E. E. Wood was elected
President, and has held the position ever since.
Prof. Gorman Jones has been instructor in Greek and History since the winter of
1891. He has served two years as acting President.
To the first building containing six rooms and two large halls, six rooms were added
in 1892. In 1893 a brick dormitory for boys, afterwards used for girls, and called
Johnson Hall for Rev. Johnson, was completed. It accommodated forty boys. The
boys' dormitory, a fine brick structure with room for ninety persons was built in 1906.
It is called Felix Hall, in honor of Dr. W. H. Felix. Highland College was purchased
in the summer of 1907. Two years ago Dr. Gatliff built and presented to the school
a brick gymnasium. He is now, at his own expense, having Johnson Hall enlarged to
hold about one hundred girls. This hall is nearly completed. Today the entire prop-
erty of the school is valued at $125,000. Through the efforts of the trustees, assisted
by Rev. Johnson and Dr. H. H. Hibbs, and through the generosity of friends over
the State and elsewhere, of Mr. John T. Burgess of Lexington, of Mr. Carnegie, and
especially of the General Education Board of New York City, the school is out of
debt, and has paid endowment of over $227,000 with $60,000 more in sight.
(Quoted from Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky)
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 663
BEREA COLLEGE
The chief founder of Berea College was Rev. John G. Fee, for it was largely through
his influence and efforts that the school was established, being, as it is, the direct out-
growth of the Anti-Slavery agitation in which he was engaged in Eastern Kentucky.
Berea College was first opened in the early part of 1855. Its first teachers were
William E. Lincoln and Otis B. Waters, who came from Oberlin College, Ohio. Mr.
Waters remained at Berea for two years and Mr. Lincoln somewhat longer, and in 1858,
the third teacher, also from Oberlin, Rev. J. A. R. Rogers, arrived.
Prof. Rogers may be called the first Principal of the school, and was destined to have
more to do with shaping its future than any other one man, except Mr. Fee. He opened
a school in a small rude building prepared for it soon after his arrival, with his wife
as assistant teacher. There were at first only fifteen pupils, but before the end of the
term the enrollment had been brought up to ninety-six. During the next term, Prof.
Rogers was assisted by Mr. and Mrs. John G. Hanson, of Bracken County, Kentucky.
In July, 1859, a Constitution was prepared for the incorporation of the College. The
general character of this instrument and the nature of the institution it proposed to
call into existence, may be seen from the following clause: "This College shall be under
an influence strictly Christian and as such, opposed to sectarianism, slave-holding, caste
and every other wrong institution or practice: The object of this College shall be to
furnish the facilities for a thorough education to all persons of good moral character,
at the least possible expense to the same, and all the inducements and facilities for
manual labor which can reasonably be supplied by the Board of Trustees shall be offered
to the students."
At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, a Board of Trustees was organized
and steps taken to procure a charter for the proposed College. The John Brown Raid
occurred just at this time, and caused the enterprise to be abandoned for a time.
The school had aroused considerable opposition in the State, on account of the Anti-
Slavery sentiments of its managers, and a large county convention held in Richmond,
Kentucky, appointed a committee of sixty-five men to see that it was removed from the
State, which "was accomplished with as much dignity and decorum as was consistent
with such an enterprise." On December 23, 1859, this committee notified Mr. Rogers
and ten others, including Mr. Fee, that they must leave the State in ten days, and ac-
cordingly, they departed with their families, numbering about forty persons. So the
school was closed for the time being.
Principal Rogers was back in 1862 engaged in repairing the buildings, when the
Confederate invasion and the battle of Richmond again forced an exodus of the Berea
workers.
In 1865, the friends of the College returned, the Board of Trustees was reorganized,
a charter for a College obtained under the general law of the State, and it was reopened
as Berea College, the teachers at that time being Prof. Rogers and wife together with
W. W. Wheeler and wife. The present campus was then occupied, and Howard Hall,
still in use erected.
In 1868, E. H. Fairchild, an alumnus of Oberlin, was called to the presidency of
Berea. He assumed the duties of the position in 1869, in which year a regular college
class of five members was first organized, and the school may be said to have started
on its career as a real college. President Fairchild remained at its head for twenty
years, and the growth of the institution continued steadily during his administration,
which terminated with his death in 1889. President Fairchild left the institution with
four good buildings: Howard Hall, Ladies Hall, Lincoln Hall and Chapel, and had
664 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
gathered for it an endowment of $100,000.00, not all of which, however, was yet
productive.
In 1890, Rev. William B. Stewart became Mr. Fairchild's successor in the presidency
of the institution, resigning in 1892. The presidency of the College, which had been
tendered to Rev. William G. Frost just prior to President Fairchild's death, but had
been declined for personal reasons, was again offered to him and was accepted at this
time, the new President entering upon his duties in the summer of that year.
Under his administration, the work of the institution has made steady progress. The
College has not for many years been aided by the American Missionary Association nor
by any State or benevolent society, but has depended upon the income of its endow-
ment, the small amount received from students' fees and the contributions of those
interested in this work.
The anti-slavery principles of Berea's early supporters led to the undertaking after
the war of the training of colored teachers for the public schools. This was prohibited
by the Legislature of 1904, and the work transferred to an independent institution,
Lincoln Institute of Kentucky, located in Shelby County.
From its earliest years, Berea has been devoted to the interest of the people in-
habiting the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and adjoining states. Its efforts in their
behalf were hindered by the burdens of "reconstruction times," but with the coming
of President Frost the institution began a series of adaptions to the peculiar conditions
of this region, and it has been a pioneer in all efforts for the improvement of rural
education.
(Quoted from Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky)
A SHORT HISTORY OF KENTUCKY STATE COLLEGE
In 1873 Kentucky provided a common school system for her recently enfranchised
colored citizens. The problem of staffing the schools with professionally trained
teachers immediately arose, and following a thirteen year period of agitation on the
part of Negro teachers and enlightened white leaders the legislature passed an act
creating a State Normal School for Colored Persons.
The next year, 1887, the doors of the new school located on land donated by the
city of Frankfort were opened to the first class of 55 students. President John H.
Jackson, holder of a masters degree from Berea College, Kentucky, and three other
teachers welcomed the prospective common school teachers to their four room normal
school.
The first major expansion of the institution came in 1890-91 when in order to obtain
financial support from the federal government under the Morrill Act of 1890 depart-
ments of agriculture, mechanical arts, and home economics were added to the two year
normal curriculum.
In the years that have followed six presidents have guided Kentucky State College
toward the goal of providing an adequate measure of higher educational opportunities
for the Negroes of Kentucky. The first, President John H. Jackson, served two non-
consecutive periods totaling fourteen years, 1887-1898 and 1907-1910; the second,
President James E. Givens, a Harvard graduate, served from 1898 to 1900; the third,
President James S. Hathaway, a graduate of Berea and Simmons University, was the
chief executive from 1900 to 1907 and from 1910 to 1912. In the latter year President
G. P. Russell, holder of degrees from Berea and Wilberforce University, began an
administration which lasted with one interruption to 1929. For one year, 1923-24,
Dr. F. M. Wood, a Kentucky State College graduate who went on to one of the most
important positions in Negro education in the country, superintendent of Negro schools
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 665
in Baltimore, Maryland, was president. The present head of Kentucky State College,
Dr. R. B. Atwood, a graduate of Fisk, Iowa State, and the University of Chicago, was
appointed in 1929.
For fifty-eight years Kentucky State College though changed in name several times
has clung to its primary function, the purpose for which it was created: the preparation
of teachers for the public schools of the state.
The name Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons was ap-
plied by the legislature in 1902 as a result of the inauguration of federal land grant
courses in agriculture and the mechanical arts. During this period a 265 acre farm
was purchased and a high school department was added to the institution.
In recognition of the steadily advancing quality of work done at the institution the
state legislature changed the name in 1926 to the Kentucky State Industrial College
for Colored Persons. One final change was made in 1938 when the legislature named
it the Kentucky State College for Negroes.
With a normal peace-time enrollment of between five and six hundred students
from all sections of the state, Kentucky State College is a symbol of Kentucky's faith
in her Negro citizens and of the confidence of the colored people in their own leaders.
On the campus proper, excluding the farm property, farm house and barns, there
are two dormitories for women, two for men, a beautiful dining hall and kitchen, an
administration building containing the school auditorium, library, and the president's
office, the gymnasium, and three class room buildings. In addition there are several
teachers' homes and the president's residence.
In the past fifteen years the physical plant has doubled in value. In that period
two dormitories, one for men and one for women, a dining hall, and the heating plant
were constructed, and the older buildings completely renovated and their usefulness in
the educational program of the college increased.
At present Kentucky State College is a standard four year college accredited by its
regional accrediting association and offers under-graduate courses leading to the bache-
lor of arts or the bachelor of science degree in the fields of English, History and
Government, Sociology and Economics, Elementary Education, Business Administration,
Commercial Teacher Education, General Science, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics,
Agriculture, and Home Economics.
Today, confidently anchored on its green clad bluff overlooking the valley in which
our state capitol is located, Kentucky State College is a bright beacon of learning
for the Negro citizens of the state. Its leaders, alumni, and friends of both races look
forward expectantly to its continued expansion in the service of Kentucky.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
(From 1944 Catalogue)
When the Southern Baptist Convention was constituted in 1845 there was no theo-
logical seminary within its territory. Education for the ministry was at that time pro-
vided by the Baptist colleges, most of which had theological departments or professor-
ships; and by private study in the homes and under the direction of individual ministers,
whose interest in younger ministers led them to provide for such private instruction
and training. A few ambitious men studied in institutions in the North. There was a
growing sentiment for a general theological seminary for the Convention. James P.
Boyce, of South Carolina, had graduated at Brown University, and upon yielding to a
conviction of a call to the ministry had studied theology in Princeton Theological
Seminary. As Professor in the Theological Department of Furman University he
manifested unusual ability and insight. Taking up the advocacy of a general theologi-
8— Vol. II
666 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
cal institution, he delivered a notable inaugural address before the University in 1856.
This led to conferences and discussions culminating in a special Educational Convention
in Louisville, Kentucky, in May, 1857, at which definite decision was reached to estab-
lish such a school. The Seminary opened its session in Greenville, S. C, in 1859, with
a faculty made up of James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil Manly, Jr., William
Williams. The Theological Department of Furman University was merged with the
new Seminary, which was an entirely independent school. Beginning auspiciously and
developing with fine promise, the young institution was soon embarrassed by the Civil
War. By the end of the session in 1862 it was found necessary to suspend operations,
while the Professors turned to pastoral and other religious work. At the close of the
War, although it seemed almost impossible to resume operations because of the loss of
resources and of the widespread destitution, the indomitable courage and the heroic
sacrifice of the members of the Faculty caused them to re-open the Seminary, October
1, 1865, and to carry it on in the face of discouragement which continued for many
years.
To raise any adequate endowment seemed hopeless while the Seminary was located in
the most impoverished section of the Convention territory, and it was decided that the
institution might be moved into some other region where more prosperous conditions
might afford better hope of support. Certain Baptists of Kentucky lent encourage-
ment to that end, and the Seminary was moved to Louisville in 1877. Its support re-
mained uncertain and its future precarious until 1880, when, in an hour of desperate
need, the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, made a gift of $50,000, which preserved
the life of the school and set it upon the way of permanent material progress.
It was many years before sufficient funds were procured to establish the Seminary
in its own grounds and buildings. It pursued its work in rented buildings in different
locations until it was able to occupy its own property at Fifth Street and Broadway in
1888. Here four buildings were erected which housed the institution until the spring
of 1926. Early in the present century it became increasingly evident that it would be
wise for the Seminary to seek a more quiet site with larger campus facilities. Move-
ments in this direction were halted by the World War. In 1921 a tract of fifty-one
acres was purchased on Lexington Road, to which some three acres were subsequently
added. The building of the new home was projected on a vigorous plan. The corner-
stone of the first building was laid in November, 1924. The removal to the new site,
known as "The Beeches," was effected March 26 and 27, 1926, and the Commencement
for that session was held in the assembly room of the Administration Building.
The institution has been owned and controlled from the beginning by the Southern
Baptist Convention through a Board of Trustees. Members of the Faculty have been
chosen with care to secure men of scholarship, consecration, teaching gifts and per-
sonality. It is provided in the Fundamental Articles that every professor must be a
member in good standing of a regular Baptist church, and all are required to enter
upon a contract to teach and conduct their work "in accordance with and not contrary
to" the convictions of Southern Baptists as expressed in a series of twenty articles
drafted by Basil Manly, Jr., adopted by the Board of Trustees and made a provision
of the charter of the institution. These articles deal with the basal principles of our
religion and the essentials of Baptist polity.
Reckoning from beginning of full service, whether as Instructor or Professor, those
who have served on the Faculty of the Seminary are the following:
James P. Boyce, 1859-88*, (Chairman, 1859-88, President 1888) ; John A. Broadus,
1859-95*, (President, 1888-95); Basil Manly, Jr., 1859-71** and 1879-92*; William
Williams, 1859-77*; Crawford H. Toy, 1869-79|*; William H. Whitsitt, 1872-99f*,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 667
(President, 1895-99); George W. Riggan, 1881-85"; John R. Sampey, 1885-1943,
(President, 1929-42), (President Emeritus, 1942-) ; F. H. Kerfoot, 1887-99J*; A. T.
Robertson, 1888-1934*; Edwin C. Dargan, 1892-1907f*; William J. McGlothlin, 1894-
1919f*; H. H. Harris, 1895-97*; W. Owen Carver, 1896-1943, (President Emeritus,
1943-); Edgar Y. Mullins, 1899-1928*, (President, 1899-1928); George B. Eager,
1900-20*, (Professor Emeritus, 1920-29); B. H. DeMent, 1906-14f*; Charles S.
Gardner, 1907-29, (Professor Emeritus, 1929-) ; H. C. Wayman, 1915-23f; L. P. Lea-
vell, 1916-20f*; F. M. Powell, 1918-41f; W. Hersey Davis, 1919-; G. S. Dobbins,
1920-; J. McKee Adams, 1921-; R. I. Johnson, 1921-; Kyle M. Yates, 1922-42f ; H. W.
Tribble, 1924-; J. B. Weatherspoon, 1929-; E. A. McDowell, Jr., 1935-; H. C. Goerner,
1935-; J. Leo Green, 1939-; Ellis A. Fuller, 1942-, (President, 1942-) ; S. L. Stealey,
1942-; H. R. Peterson, 1943-; Charles A. McGlon, 1943-; O. T. Binkley, 1944-.
This Seminary has active membership in The American Association of Theological
Schools, and is on the list of "Accredited Schools" prepared by the Commission on
Accreditation created by the Association.
PURPOSE
The purpose of a theological seminary is the training of an intelligent spiritual leader-
ship for the interpretation and extension of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Pri-
marily such a leadership expresses itself in the pastoral ministration and direction of
local churches. This was the dominant idea of the founders of this Seminary and must
remain the chief function of the institution. A great denomination functioning as a
factor in a world-wide Christianity, must have a general denominational leadership and
must produce its share of the leadership for the whole Christian movement in the life
of the world. This responsibility has been in the program of this institution steadily.
The Baptist polity and theory of the calling of its ministry provide that any church
may authorize any one of its members to study for the ministry and to exercise the
ministerial functions. This places upon the educational institutions of the denomina-
tion the obligation to provide scholastic training for all those who may be recognized
by the churches as called into the ministry. At the same time, an institution must
organize its courses, project its work and formulate its regulations in the light of the
total objective which it must serve. From the first this Seminary has admitted to its
classes all who were properly accredited by their churches; but has always reserved its
scholastic recognitions for such students as could meet high standards of scholarship
and give promise of efficient work. With the extension of general knowledge and the
elevation of scholastic standards, the Seminary, while adhering to the principle of free
admission, has advanced its standards and tests for those who are to be accredited by
its diplomas; and has also extended its provisions for the training of scholarly leader-
ship. As far as its resources allow, it seeks to provide for the varied demands of a
large and great denomination finding its tasks in the complex conditions of the modern
world.
Its facilities are not at all limited to Baptists but are open on the same terms to men
of all denominations. Its rosters carry many names of students of various Christian
communions and a few Jews. Throughout its history few sessions have lacked non-
Baptist students.
*Deceased.
fResigned.
**Resigned — re-elected after a period as President of Georgetown College.
668 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
By Frank H. Caldwell, D.D.
The story of Louisville Seminary is a story of unique ecclesiastical cooperation, far-
sighted administration, able teaching, and generous giving. An excellent history of
the institution* has been written by the Rev. I. S. McElroy, D.D., whose name will
always be inseparably linked with the first strong financial undergirding of the semi-
nary. A story of the buildings was published some years ago by Dr. Charles R.
Hemphill in brochure form. More recently a "Story of the Buildings" was written
by the Rev. Peyton H. Hoge, D.D., and published in the April, May, June, 1934,
issue of The Register.
The list of the able professors and instructors, the wise ecclesiastical statesmen, the
generous donors, and the loyal and outstanding alumni who have been used of God in
the building of this "school of the prophets" is too long to be included in a brief sketch
like this. Rather, it is the purpose of this booklet to present a bird's-eye view of the
development of the seminary during five significant periods.
I. The Two Parent Institutions
The seminary had its beginning some years before the division of the Presbyterian
Church into the two branches — U. S. A. and U. S.
The older of the parent institutions was the Danville (Kentucky) Theological Semi-
nary, founded by the General Assembly of 1853 in response to an offer of the Synod
of Kentucky to provide a site of at least ten acres and $60,000 toward the endowment
of three chairs. The high standard set for the faculty of this new "seminary of the
west" is indicated by the names of the first four professors elected by that Assembly
of 1853— Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, D.D., LL.D., Rev. Edward P. Humphrey, D.D.,
Rev. B. M. Palmer, D.D., and Rev. Phineas B. Gurley, D.D.
The seminary opened its doors October 13, 1853, with three professors** and twenty-
three students. Its hopeful beginning, however, was soon seriously blighted by the
turmoil of the War between the States and the Period of Reconstruction, so that by
1883 only one professor, Dr. Stephen Yerkes, remained in the faculty, and there were
very few students. At this time an earnest effort was made to secure joint use of the
seminary by the U.S. and U.S.A. churches, but the effort failed because of certain
"practical difficulties." Shortly afterward, the board elected some new professors, and
Danville Seminary was revived somewhat, but it was unable to regain its pre-war
strength. During its separate life of forty-eight years, sixteen professors and nine
instructors served in the faculty of Danville Seminary, and more than three hundred
ministers received all or part of their training in its halls.
In the meantime, following the failure mentioned above to make Danville Seminary
an institution which would serve the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., as well as the
Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., the feeling grew that there should be a seminary to serve
the former church in the region of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. After three
years of diligent and fruitful campaigning under the leadership of the Rev. I. S. Mc-
*The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, published by the Presbyterian
Standard Publishing Co., Charlotte, N. C, 1929.
:!c*Breckinridge, Humphrey, and Joseph G. Reason. Dr. Palmer and Gurley declined
their elections to the faculty by the General Assembly. Shortly afterwards two other
"giants" were elected — Dr. Stuart Robinson and Dr. Stephen Yerkes.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 669
Elroy, D.D., the Louisville Presbyterian Thelogical Seminary was founded in 1893
under the joint control of the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri, U.S. It began its
life with financial resources of $147,000 which were increased to $247,000 by the end
of the first year. The first faculty was composed of six able professors — Rev. William
Hoge Marquess, D.D., LL.D., L.H.D., Rev. Charles R. Hemphill, D.D., LL.D.,
Rev. Francis R. Beattie, Ph.D., DD., LL.D., Rev, Thomas Dwight Witherspoon, D.D.,
LL.D., Rev. Thompson M. Hawes, D.D., and Rev. Edwin Muller, D.D. There were
thirty-one students the first year, and the number grew steadily to a peak of sixty-seven
in the fourth year, with an average of forty-seven students during the eight years of its
life as a separate institution. By 1901 the financial resources of the seminary had been
increased to "several hundred thousand dollars."
II. The Consolidation of 1901
Meanwhile, there had come to be in Kentucky two Presbyterian colleges — Central
(U.S.), and Centre (U.S.A.), and two Presbyterian seminaries — Louisville (U.S.),
and Danville (U.S.A.) , and there was an increasing desire for consolidation. Accord-
ingly, in 1901 the two colleges were consolidated as the Central University of Kentucky
at Danville, and the two seminaries were consolidated as the Kentucky Presbyterian
Theological Seminary at Louisville.* It is interesting to note that while the opposition
in the General Assembly (U.S.) to the approval of this consolidation was not large,
one ground of the opposition was that "it tends toward organic union with the Presby-
terian Church in the U.S.A." Louisville Seminary has never agitated for organic union
of the two Presbyterian churches which own and control it, but for more than thirty-
five years it has demonstrated the possibility of intimate and fruitful cooperation be-
tween these two churches, and it has sent out into both churches a constant stream of
graduates to most of whom the ideal of re-union is not so much the result of propa-
ganda as the consequence of vital experience.
III. The Administration of Dr. Charles R. Hemphill, 1910-20
Prior to the election of Dr. Hemphill as president in 1910, the seminary, like most
such institutions, functioned without such an official. Each member of the faculty, in
turn, served as the chairman of that body, and most of the administrative details con-
cerned with the care and maintenance of the buildings, refectory, etc., were handled by
the "Intendent." One such "Intendent" during the period following the consolidation
was Dr. Francis R. Beattie, who shared administrative responsibilities with Dr. Hemp-
hill, and who in friendship was to Dr. Hemphill as Jonathan to David. His death in
1906 was a severe blow to the institution and to the whole community.
It is practically impossible to restrict the administration of Dr. Hemphill to the ac-
tual period of his presidency of the seminary, for he had been one of the founders of
Louisville Seminary in 1893, and between that time and the date of his official election
as president so much had been done by him which is usually regarded as "administra-
tive."
Dr. Hemphill had a large part in securing most of the munificent gifts which made
possible the erection and furnishing of the seminary buildings as they are today. His
wise ecclesiastical statesmanship can be seen in the successful effort to consolidate Louis-
ville and Danville Seminaries. His relation to the Second Presbyterian Church as their
former pastor made it possible for him to maintain among the members of the great
'Tn 1926 the name of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary was resumed
as the official name of the institution.
670 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
congregation a vital interest in the seminary, without which one wonders whether the
institution could have survived.
During most of Dr. Hemphill's administration there was a full and able faculty —
Dr. William Hoge Marquess in the Chair of English Bible, Dr. Thompson M. Hawes
teaching Public Speaking, Dr. Henry E. Dosker in Church History, Pastoral Theology,
and Missions, Dr. R. A. Webb in Apologetics and Theology, Dr. Jesse Lee Cotton,
who was just beginning his long and fruitful professorship in Hebrew and Old Testa-
ment, and Dr. J. Gray McAllister, first as Acting Professor, then as full Professor of
English Bible. But one year after Dr. Hemphill was elected president, Dr. Marquess
resigned, and in 1919 Drs. Webb and Hawes died, leaving the faculty severely depleted.
The student body, also, was considerably reduced in size toward the end of Dr. Hemp-
hill's administration, as was the case with the student bodies of most seminaries during
the years immediately following the World War.
IV. Dr. John M. Vander Meulen's Adminstration, 1920-30
In 1920 Dr. Hemphill resigned the presidency to become Dean for the next ten
years until his retirement from active duty. The Board then called to the presidency
the Rev. John M. Vander Meulen, D.D., LL.D., who was pastor of the First Presby-
terian Church at Oak Park, Illinois, and who for five years previously had been pastor
of the Second Church in Louisville. Dr. Vander Meulen immediately set about to in-
crease the endowment of the seminary and to enlarge the student body, the curriculum,
the faculty, and the synodical constitutuency of the institution. All of these objectives
were accomplished to an amazing degree during the ten years of his administration.
The financial resources were increased to more than a million dollars. Two new campus
sites were procured — one on the Upper River Road, and the Pratt-Reynolds Campus on
Cannon's Lane — with a view to the possible removal of the seminary to one of them.
The student body rose in numbers to 119. In 1921 Dr. Thornton Whaling was called
from the presidency of Columbia Seminary to the Chair of Systematic Theology, which
had become vacant with the death of Dr. Webb. Dr. Charles H. Pratt was called
in 1924 to the newly-established Reynolds Chair of Missions and Evangelism. To the
new Mary Hamilton Duncan Chair of Religious Education, Dr. Lewis J. Sherrill was
called later in the same year. When Dr. J. Gray McAllister resigned to go to Union
Seminary in 1925, Dr. Andrew W. Blackwood was immediately secured for the Chair
of English Bible. Following the death of Dr. Henry E. Dosker in 1926, Dr. Andrew
K. Rule was called to the Chair of Church History. In 1928, Dr. W. D. Chamberlain
was called as associate professor of New Testament Exegesis, becoming full professor
in that chair on the death of Dr. Hemphill in 1932.
During this administration the curriculum was enlarged by the addition of chairs,
undergraduate electives, and of courses leading to a Th.M. degree. Postgraduate study
was also stimulated by the establishment of six fellowships. Also, two lectureships were
established, and an excellent archeological museum was procured.
Though he was conspicuously successful in his administrative duties which he carried
along with the responsibility for the Chair of Homiletics, Dr. Vander Meulen informed
the Board in 1928 of his earnest desire to retire from the presidency to the Chair of
Homiletics as soon as a new president could be secured. But when Dr. Thornton
Whaling retired from the Chair of Theology in 1929, and Dr. Vander Meulen supplied
that chair for a while, the students urged that he accept that professorship permanently,
which he did, holding it until his death June 7, 1936. To the vacant Chair of Homi-
letics, the Rev. Frank H. Caldwell was called, at the same time that a new president was
secured to succeed Dr. Vander Meulen.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 671
V. The Administration of Dr. John R. Cunningham, 1930-36
The Rev. John R. Cunningham, D.D., LL.D., came to the presidency after con-
spicuously successful pastorates at Grenada, Mississippi; Gainesville, Florida; and Bris-
tol, Tennessee-Virginia. As he began his administration in mid-summer of 1930, the
people of America were being assured over the radio and in the newspapers that al-
though the stock market had tumbled in an unprecedented crash late in 1929, "pros-
perity was just around the corner"! A few weeks later, America began to discover that
instead of prosperity it was bank failures that were just around most corners. We were
caught in the grip of perhaps the worse economic depression in history. And the semi-
nary found itself with the largest faculty (ten active professors and one retired on
pension) , and the largest administrative staff in its history. Plainly, the first administra-
tive task of the new president in a period of economic depression was one of financial
retrenchment and conservation. How well this task was performed, and with what
difficulties, only the presentation and interpretation of data, which have no place in a
brief article like this, could show. In addition to this work of conservation, however,
the permanent endowment of the seminary was increased during these depression years
by more than $240,000.00.
In the personnel of the faculty three changes occurred during Dr. Cunningham's
administration. In 1931 the Rev. Julian Price Love, Ph.D., D.D., was called to the
Chair of English Bible to succeed Dr. Andrew W. Blackwood who had resigned in
1929 to accept the Chair of Homiletics at Princeton. In 1932 Dr. Hemphill died,
after having been in the faculty constantly for thirty-nine years. He was succeeded
as Dean by the Rev. Lewis J. Sherrill, Ph.D., and as Professor of New Testament
Exegesis by the Rev. William D. Chamberlain, Ph.D. In 1935 the Rev. Jesse Lee
Cotton, D.D., LL.D., retired from the Chair of Old Testament, having served ably in
that capacity for more than twenty-five years.
The academic standards of the institution were notably raised during this adminis-
tration. At its very beginning the faculty was pursuing a study of theological curricula
with a view to making changes which would render the training of the seminary more
effective. This new curriculum was adopted and put into effect in 1932. At the same
time the library was enlarged and made more usable, greater care was exercised in the
admission of students to the seminary, academic records were more systematically
handled, and students judged by the faculty to be not able to profit by seminary
training or to adapt themselves effectively to the work of the ministry were guided into
other vocations or other types of institutions early in their careers. As a partial result
of this raising of standards, the size of the student body was somewhat reduced, but in
1936 for the first time in the history of the institution every man graduating from
Louisville Seminary had already received his college degree and was receiving from the
seminary a degree in divinity.
Various churches made overtures to Dr. Cunningham during his administration to
return to the pastorate, and in March, 1936, he accepted the call of the First Presby-
terian Church of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, severing his connection with the
seminary immediately.
The Executive Committee named Dean Lewis J. Sherrill to serve as Acting President
until the end of that academic year, at which time the Board elected Rev. Frank H.
Caldwell, Ph.D., D.D., as President.
The Seminary needs additional resources amounting to $500,000 in order that its
work may be adequately endowed, and until those resources are made available through
gifts and legacies, we shall have to depend upon liberal annual gifts toward current
672 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
expenses from friends who appreciate the significance to our church of a thoroughly
trained ministry.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF
EASTERN KENTUCKY STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
Establishment
The Eastern Kentucky State Normal School was created by a legislative act March
21, 1906, and as provided for under the act, the Governor of the Commonwealth was
authorized to appoint four regents with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction
serving as ex officio Chairman. On May 9, 1906, Governor J. C. W. Beckham ap-
pointed on the first Board of Regents Hon. Jere A. Sullivan, Richmond, Kentucky;
Hon. P. W. Grinstead, Cold Springs, Kentucky; Hon. Fred Vaughn, Paintsville, Ken-
tucky; and Hon. J. W. Cammack, Owenton, Kentucky. James H. Fuqua, Sr., State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, was ex officio chairman by virtue of his office.
Judge J. W. Cammack served the Board continuously from 1906 until his death in
February 5, 1939.
Location
Richmond was recognized at the outset as a probable site for one of the normal
schools, since it offered a "ready-made" normal school plant, a main college building
seating 800 and worth $60,000, a dormitory of 35 rooms worth $30,000, a gymnasium
worth $5,000 and fully equipped, an athletic field and grandstand, a city with a college
and school spirit, and a railroad center — the most accessible point to the majority of
Kentucky teachers.
On May 7, 1906, the Normal School Commission met in Louisville and accepted
Richmond's offer of property worth approximately $125,000. This property was the site
of Central University which had been united with Centre College in Danville in 1901.
College Plant and Buildings
The present campus and adjoining dairy and truck farm consist of 223 acres. The
campus of 40 acres and the college farm, devoted to dairying and vegetable gardening,
contains 183 acres.
Sullivan Hall is the home of approximately 150 women students and is named in
honor of Eastern's first local regent, Honorable Jere A. Sullivan. It was built in 1908.
Burnam Hall, a dormitory for women, was completed in 1940. The first section was
built in 1920, and an addition was constructed in 1926. The entire structure provides
living quarters for 370 women.
The John Grant Crabbe Library houses over fifty thousand volumes. It is named
in honor of Eastern's second president. The original structure was erected in 1923
and the addition in 1936.
The University Building is the oldest building on the campus. It was erected in 1874
and was the home of Central University from 1874 to 1901. It is now used for the
high school division of the training school.
The Cammack Building was erected in 1918. It is named for the Honorable James
W. Cammack, regent from 1906 to 1939.
The Weaver Health Building, constructed in 1931, houses the swimming pool, two
basketball floors, R. O. T. C. headquarters, offices of the college physician and several
class rooms. It was named for Charles W. Weaver, regent from 1920 to 1932.
The Administration Building was constructed in 1928. It is named in honor of
Eastern's third president Thomas Jackson Coates. The Hiram Brock Auditorium
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 673
adjoins the Coates Administration Building and might be considered a part of it.
The auditorium is named for Senator Hiram Brock, Regent from Harlan, Kentucky.
Hanger Stadium was built in 1936. The college received this valuable addition to
the plant as a gift from students, faculty, and friends of the college, supplemented
by a PWA grant. This concrete, steel, and tile structure has dormitory accommodations
for thirty men students, offices for coaches, dressing and equipment rooms, and showers.
The seating capacity is 5,000.
Beckham, McCreary and Miller Halls, the new dormitory for men, are three separate
buildings. Each section provides the finest dormitory accommodations for 48 men which
makes the total capacity of the dormitory 144. This building was completed in 1939,
and Beckham Hall was named for the late J. C. W. Beckham, who was Governor of
Kentucky when Eastern was founded. McCreary Hall is named for James B. McCreary,
a Richmond citizen, who twice served the state as chief executive. Miller Hall is named
for Robert W. Miller, a Madison Countain, who introduced in the lower house of the
General Assembly a bill establishing Eastern.
Memorial Hall, dormitory for men, which was on the campus when Eastern was
established, was torn down when the new dormitory for men was built.
Memorial Hall Annex was built in 1920. It has recently been remodeled and now
provides convenient dormitory accommodations for 60 men.
The Fitzpatrick Arts Building was constructed in 1939 and houses three depart-
ments of the college: industrial arts, home economics, and art. It is named for the
Honorable H. D. Fitzpatrick who was a member of the Board of Regents of the
college from 1930 to 1944.
Eastern's newest and finest building is its Student Union Building. The idea of a
student building was conceived by Dr. H. L. Donovan, President of Eastern for 13
years. The college administration felt that students needed something more than class-
room and library opportunities in order to develop initiative, personality, and social
amenities of life.
The Student Union Building contains club rooms for students, recreation halls, a
Little Theater, student post office, bookstore, soda fountain and grill, dining halls, the
faculty club rooms, and a spacious reception room. It was named in honor of Ken-
tucky's former governor, the Honorable Keen Johnson, who has served on the Board of
Regents since 1936.
The other buildings on the campus not described are:
11) The Amphitheater, a replica of an ancient Greek Amphitheater. It was built
in 1936 and has a seating capacity of 2,500. (2) The Roark Building, erected in 1908
and named in honor of Eastern's first president, Dr. Ruric Nevel Roark. It is now
used as a science building. (3) The President's home which is next to the Administra-
tion Building. (4) The Rural Demonstration School, located on Stateland Farm.
(5) A residence formerly occupied by the college physician, by the dean, but since fall
of 1945 has been used as the home management house. (6) A residence on the campus
occupied by the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. (7) A residence on South
Second Street formerly used as a practice house for home economics majors. (8) Tel-
ford Music Building, acquired from the Presbyterian Church in —
Income and Maintenance
The income for maintenance increased gradually from the initial appropriation of
$20,000.00 per year in 1906 to $353,615.03 in 1930-31. Beginning with the school
year 1931-32, there was a great decline in the income of the college for maintenance
purposes. The amount of income for this purpose continued to decrease until 1933-34,
674 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
when the total amount received was $188,283.28. Appropriations for capital outlay
have been made from time to time.
Value of College Plant
Book value of college property, campus, grounds, buildings and equipment was
$3,058,184.22 on January 1, 1945. All of the buildings are in a good state of repair.
Administration
During the period of thirty-nine years since the institution was established it has had
five presidents and two acting presidents; namely, Ruric Nevel Roark, President, June 2,
1906, to April 14, 1909; Mrs. Mary C. Roark, Acting President, April 16, 1909, to
April 9, 1910; John Grant Crabbe, President, April 9, 1910, to September 1, 1916;
Thomas Jackson Coates, President, September 7, 1916, to March 17, 1928; Homer E.
Cooper, Acting President, March 19, 1928, to June 1, 1928; Herman Lee Donovan,
June 1, 1928, to July 1, 1941; and W. F. O'Donnell, who has been president of the
institution since July 1, 1941.
From time to time the Board of Regents has created administrative offices to assist
the president in the administration of the college. These offices are:
1. Dean of Women, 1906. 2. Business Agent, 1907. 3. Registrar, 1908. 4. Di-
rector of the Training School, 1907. 5. Dean of the Faculty, 1915. 6. Superintendent
of Buildings and Grounds, 1918. 7. Dean of Men, 1921. 8. Director of Extension,
1920. 9. Director of Research, 1931. 10. Director of Personnel.
The appointed members of the Board of Regents, their home addresses, and their
terms of service are as follows:
J. W. Cammack, Owenton, June 2, 1906, to February 5, 1939; P. W. Grinstead,
Cold Springs, June 2, 1906, to May 8, 1914; J. A. Sullivan, Richmond, June 2, 1906,
to April 26, 1930; Fred A. Vaughn, Paintsville, June 2, 1906, to June 16, 1916; H.
M. Brock, Harlan, May 8, 1914, to April 26, 1930, April 27, 1932, to January 10,
1936; W. A. Price, Corbin, June 16, 1916, to May 15, 1920; Chas. F. Weaver, Ashland,
May 15, 1920, to October 21, 1932; H. D. Fitzpatrick, Prestonburg, April 26, 1930, to
April 27, 1932, January 21, 1933, to April 1, 1944; N. U. Bond, Berea, June 21, 1930,
to April 27, 1932; John Noland, Richmond, August 12, 1932, to April 1, 1938; Glenn
O. Swing, Covington, April 17, 1939, to April 1, 1944; Jesse Alverson, Paris, September
14, 1936, to — ; Keen Johnson, Richmond, September 14, 1936, to — ; O. F. Hume,
Richmond, April 1, 1944, to — ; E. J. Evans, Paintsville, April 1, 1944, to — .
In addition to the appointed members, the superintendents of public instruction who
have served as ex officio members of the Board of Regents are as follows:
Jas. H. Fuqua, January 2, 1906, to January 6, 1908; John Grant Crabbe, January 6,
1908, to April 9, 1910; Ellsworth Regenstein, April 9, 1910 to January 1, 1912; Barks-
dale Hamlett, January 1, 1912, to January 3, 1916; V. O. Gilbert, January 3, 1916,
to January 5, 1920; George Colvin, January 5, 1920, to January 7, 1924; McHenry
Rhoads, January 7, 1924, to January 2, 1928; W. C. Bell, January 2, 1928, to January
4, 1932; Jas. H. Richmond, January 4, 1932, to January 6, 1936; Harry W. Peters,
January 6, 1936, to January 4, 1940; John W. Brooker, January 2, 1940, to January
2, 1944; John Fred Williams, January 2, 1944, to — .
The elected officers of the Board of Regents are a vice-chairman, secretary, and a
treasurer.
Training School
The campus training school at Eastern is the oldest in Kentucky. The Normal school,
established in 1906, occupied the buildings formerly belonging to Central University.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 675
On the campus at that time there was a private academy which was taken over by the
"Normal" and converted into a "Model School," and elementary grades were added.
In normal times the campus training school has about 330 pupils and fourteen full-
time teachers. It includes an elementary school of six grades, a high school of six
grades with a principal, and a one-teacher rural school located near by on the college
farm. The Richmond City School, affiliated with the college for the extension of student
teaching, offers the services of from ten to twelve teachers. This makes available for
the student teaching on the campus or very near the campus a total of about twenty-
five training teachers and approximately 750 pupils.
ENROLLMENT AT EASTERN
In 1907, enrollment at Eastern Kentucky State Normal School was made up largely
of people taking teacher training on the secondary level. The change was gradually
made from students taking work of the secondary level to those taking teacher training
on the college level. In 1930, teacher training of the secondary level was discontinued.
The enrollment rose from a small number to a maximum of 1810 college students during
the regular year. Another significent change in the enrollment was from the attendance
of short periods to that of more students entering for the four year course. A large
percent of the students enrolled in the curricula for the training of teachers. Others en-
rolled in non-professional courses in preparation for positions or professions other than
teaching.
This information was assembled from Three Decades of Progress, the minutes of the
Board of Regents, catalogs of the institution and from unpublished report on "Plans
and Programs" prepared for the Commission on Teacher Education in 1942.
SAINT CATHARINE OF SIENA
FOUNDATION OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT DOMINIC
The heritage of St. Catharine of Siena foundation of the Sisters of St. Dominic,
established in 1822 in Washington County near Springfield, Kentucky dates back to
the early thirteenth century, when in 1206, St. Dominic founded the first convent of
Sisters at Prouille in France. The education of youth and the personal sanctification
of its members was the twofold object of this early foundation, which for more than
seven hundred years has transmitted its spirit and multiplied its following until prac-
tically every country in the world has known the influence of Dominican teaching. The
society was known as the Second Order of St. Dominic.
Of the same spirit and origin as the foundation at Prouille was that of the First
Order, the Friar Preachers, learned and zealous monks, whom St. Dominic sent two
and two through the length and breadth of heresy-stricken Europe to restore the
Catholic faith to its original truth and vigor. Apostolic, yet contemplative, these sons
of St. Dominic united action and asceticism in such a way that their charitable ac-
tivities were vivified by contemplation and their cloistered life was quickened through
their apostolic labors.
A further development of these two religious endeavors was the Third Order of
St. Dominic, originally a lay organization for the dissemination of virtue and truth
by the practice of self-sacrifice and prayer. Under the leadership of Blessed Emily
Bicchieri, in 1256 a group of saintly women established a foundation, conventual in
character, where the subjects lived in community, took the vows of poverty, chastity,
and obedience, and observed the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitutions of the
Sisters of Penance instituted by St. Dominic. More rapidly than the Prouille founda-
tion this organization multiplied and spread, oroviding in 1822 an ideal for the infant
676 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
community pioneering in that heart of the wilderness of Kentucky. It was from this
community that St. Catharine derived its spirit, its resourcefulness, and its power of
adaptability to time and place, qualities indispensable in pioneer life.
The history of St. Catharine community has been one of a century and quarter's
record of patient, courageous struggles, and glorious achievements in the cause of re-
lition and the betterment of society. From the first humble foundation of seven Sisters
on Cartwright Creek the congregation has grown into an institution that now counts
its members by the hundreds and its pupils by the thousands, its influence extending
from the east coast to the middle west and from the far north to the deep south.
It has fulfilled and is still realizing the ideal of its thirteenth century origin, adapting
itself to the conditions and needs of nineteenth and twentieth century America, taking
its birth in the humble beginnings of this great democracy and coming to maturity with
the growth and expansion of the nation.
The history of the Dominican Fathers in America has always been closely interwoven
with that of St. Catharine. It was Edward Fenwick, O.P., an American by birth but
educated in Europe, who first cherished the hope of seeing the Order established in his
native land. After many disappointments and long periods of waiting he finally ar-
rived in November, 1804, at Norfolk, Virginia, from England. Under the direction of
Bishop Carroll he proceeded to Kentucky, where in 1806 with Reverend Samuel Thomas
Wilson and Reverend William Raymond Tuite, he established the first Dominician
priory under the patronage of St. Rose of Lima. Later, in 1806, the cornerstone of St.
Rose church was laid and with the growth and expansion of missionary endeavors of the
Fathers, the need of teaching sisters to aid them in the work of Christian education in
the territory under their jurisdiction became imperative. The fulfillment of this demand
was realized through the foundation of the first order of teaching Dominican Sisters in
the United States. Like St. Dominic, their founder, these American friars would have
a sisterhood to unite the work of contemplation with that of education of youth.
One has only to return in spirit to that pioneer period to realize the hopes and fears
that must have harassed the minds of Father Wilson, then Superior of St. Rose, and
his counsellors as they considered the establishment of a new community of women in
Kentucky. Could they, in this remote unsettled region, repeat what St. Dominic had
accomplished in the heart of civilized Europe? If they could find souls to make the
great surrender, were the people prepared for the undertaking? Had the people the
vision of the future of the state and nation, and the realization of the opportunities
ahead for those undertaking such an apostolate?
In the period of fifteen years since the Dominicans had come to Kentucky, their
ministry had been extended in the state, with a large part of Ohio under their care.
It had been a fruitful ministry, devout congregations filled their churches; a college
established for boys was well attended, and to their novitiate came the sons of some of
the leading families of the south. By those not of the Catholic faith, the Dominicans
had been well received, and many came to embrace the teachings of the Church that
they so zealously cherished and upheld. Such conditions tended to allay any mis-
givings they might have as to the feasibility of founding a community of Sisters.
Too, these sons of St. Dominic were prayful men. They were men of vision, with
confidence in America and in a future that would yield a harvest of souls in the fields
of the Church in the new continent. They realized that learning was one of the great
weapons in fighting error and that santity was the true stimulant for zeal and the chief
requisite for the holy formation of youth. They wished for holy and learned women
to train the minds and to mould the character of the youth of their day.
Father Wilson accordingly laid plans for the establishment of a community of con-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 677
ventual Third Order of women before Bishop Flaget of Bardstown, who highly ap-
proved the undertaking. Likewise Very Reverend Pius Maurice Viviani, Pro-Vicar
General of the Order, not only approved of the foundation but accorded to its new
members all the privileges belonging to the Second Order. Thus from the very be-
ginning the future St. Catharine was affiliated with Second Order.
Memorable was the Sunday, on which the announcement was made before the con-
gregation assembled in St. Rose church of the inauguration of this great undertaking.
Not alone for Kentucky but for the entire country was this an important event since
in the century that has followed the establishment of the first Dominican Sisterhood,
the community had expanded to practically every section of the United States. Nine
young women presented themselves before Father Wilson on February 28, 1822, as
the first candidates and founders of the new community which was to be known as
Saint Mary Magdalen.
Only the barest records remain of the proceedings of that occasion which organized
the first foundation in America. The simple ceremony over, their first efforts were
bent upon establishing a home. Their life was not an easy one. All the hardships of
pioneering in an unchartered course was theirs.
On a farm belonging to St. Rose was a one-room log cabin, with a loft above, which
provided the first humble home of the Sisters. Roughly built of trees from the sur-
rounding forest, with the chimney made of mud and wattles, with small holes fot
windows, with earthen floors and homemade furnishings, the original home of the
first Dominican Sisters in the United States possessed nothing of beauty and little of
comfort. But in it they immediately entered upon their regular conventual life, and
the same exercises and rules observed by their unknown Sisters in the stately convents
in Europe were followed in the rude cabin on the frontier. Here at midnight they
arose for Matins and Lauds, and dawn found them beginning their day of toil and
prayer. Their lives had the variety of religious instruction, study, sacrifice, toil, and
often the pangs of hunger. But their prayer, their study, their labors, their privations
and their hunger won the divine blessings which have given their community perman-
ency, numbers, strength, and unity.
As teaching was to be their chief duty, they immediately arranged for classes in
English, history, and mathematics. Father Wilson and Rev. Richard Miles, their first
chaplain, proved able teachers, attending to the spiritual as well as the intellectual
needs of the Sisters.
But the material necessities the Sisters had to provide for themselves. With faith in
God they took up the work nearest at hand and labored in the fields as well as in the
house and in the classroom, to sustain their bodily needs and to provide wherewith to
make their clothes.
On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1822, the first reception of Dominican nuns in the United
States was held at St. Rose Church. Father Wilson officiated and gave the habit to
Marie Sansbury, to be known as Sister Angela and later to be elected the first superior
of the community. In St. Mary Magdalen chapel her companions were to share in the
privilege of receiving the habit and of choosing from their number the one who was
to be their superior.
The father of Sister Angela, who had seen two of his daughters enter the community,
presented them with a farm on which was a large house, situated near Cartwright Creek
in the heart of a rich and beautiful valley. It was here that the foundation was laid
for the future community. An old still house nearby was converted into a school, the
Academy of St. Mary Magdalen, later renamed Saint Catharine of Siena. A small
678 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
chapel was built and gradual improvements were made. By 1825 sufficient funds were
available to erect a new school.
The century that followed this humble beginning was one of gradual expansion and
growth. Through the trials and vicissitudes of frontier life the community emerged,
adapting itself to the changing conditions and needs of growing America and extend-
ing its frontiers, as calls from far and near came for Sisters to establish new founda-
tions.
The phenomenal growth of the parochial schools system at the close of the nineteenth
century provided the community with many opportunities for augmenting its field of
activity.
In 1830 came the first opportunity for extending its field of labor, when Bishop Fen-
wick of Cincinnati solicited a foundation of Sisters for his diocese. This community,
Saint Mary of the Springs, established first at Somerset, Ohio, but later moved to
Columbus, became the nucleus of a great educational congregation that today numbers
hundreds and has foundations in many states.
Other large and independent communities which owe their origin to St. Catharine
have their original foundations at: St. Cecelia's, Nashville, Tennessee, organized in
1860; Sacred Heart Convent, Springfield, Illinois, founded in 1873; Sacred Heart Con-
vent, Galveston, Texas, established in 1882; and Saint Catharine of Siena Convent,
Fall River, Massachusetts, founded in 1892.
In 1851 a foundation in the diocese of Nashville, in the parish of St. Peter Church,
Memphis, gave the Sisters their first house in Tennessee, under the patronage of St.
Agnes. Today St. Agnes Academy and Conservatory of Music, and Siena College,
established in 1926, stand as a tribute to the sacrifices and labors of nearly a century.
In 1866 a foundation was made in Louisville in St. Louis Bertrand parish and a year
later Holy Rosary Academy was established. From 1877 to 1882 were established sev-
eral local missions, including the colored school at Briartown and the parochial school
in Springfield.
Expansion in 1882 extended to Mattoon, Illinois, and in 1888 to Water town, Massa-
chusetts. In 1901 Spalding, Nebraska was the first of several midwest foundations,
including one in Iowa. Later, in West Virginia and in Indiana, missions were founded.
Since 1921 large parochial schools have been accepted in Chicago, Illinois; Brooklyn,
New York; and Boston, Massachusetts. St. Catharine Hospital in McCook, Nebraska
has been in operation since 1921.
The community now teaches 16,000 children in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and
Washington, Boston, Chicago, and Louisville, and in the Diocese of Brooklyn, Des
Moines, Grand Island, Indianapolis, Lincoln, Little Rock, Nashville, Omaha, and
Owensboro. It conducts one senior college, one junior college, one hospital, thirty-two
parochial schools and seven academies. The membership is 600.
In 1839 the State of Kentucky granted a charter for establishing an academy at
St. Catharine, with all necessary privileges and rights. On July 24, 1845, the first
graduation at St. Catharine took place. By a grant of the state legislature in 1851,
the Sisters were permitted to change the name of the foundation from St. Mary
Magdalen to that of Saint Catharine of Siena.
Though the work of the Sisters is primarily education, the annals of St. Catharine
record many instances where in grave emergencies they have served in other capacities,
often at the risk of their lives. The cholera epidemics in 1832 and 1854 found the
Sisters laboring in the plague-stricken areas, one of their number, Sister Teresa Lynch,
sacrificing her life as a victim of the plague.
In the crisis of the Civil War, the Sisters, true to the spirit of neutrality which
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 679
Kentucky proclaimed, sought to help the soldiers in both camps. In the Battle of
Perryville they went to the battlefield to minister to the wounded and dying. They
converted their convent into a temporary hospital to house the wagonloads of wounded
soldiers brought in from the field of battle. At the request of Rt. Rev. Bishop Whe-
lan, O.P., the Sisters of St. Agnes Academy, Memphis, took charge of the city hospital
which had been requistioned for wounded soldiers.
During the yellow fever epidemics of 1867, 1873, and 1878 in Memphis, many
Sisters in their effort to give aid were victims themselves of the plague. To this day
the citizens of Memphis honor the Sisters for their fidelity and loyalty during that
time of agonizing grief. A little graveyard at Saint Agnes Academy mutely testifies
to the heroism of those Sisters who gave their lives that others might live.
The World War period found the Sisters again summoned to the exercise of charity
when the influenza epidemic swept across the country, taking its toll of victims alike
in army camps and in civilian life. To Camp Zachary Taylor near Louisville and into
the mountain and mining districts of Kentucky went the Messengers of Mercy to
alleviate the sick and console the dying.
The greatest tragedy in the history of the community occurred in the winter of
1904 when a fire razed to the ground the academy, chapel, and convent, valued at
$350,000.00. In one night the results of eighty-two years of sacrifice and labor were
reduced to ashes.
Not daunted, however, the Sisters immediately erected a modern, well-equipped
building on a new and more reliable site. It stands high on a hill facing Bardstown
pike, about two and one-half miles from Springfield. Later the grounds were landscaped
and two additions have been made; a chapel and novitiate building in 1930, and a fifty-
five room fireproof residence hall in 1936.
A milestone in the history of St. Catharine came at the first centenary celebration
in 1922, when distant friends and alumnae assembled at the motherhouse to unite with
the Sisters in celebrating the hundredth anniversary of their foundation. Felicitations
from the Holy Father, Pius XI, and from Fr. Ludovicus Theissling, the Master Gen-
eral of the Dominican Order, were supplemented by greetings from many old and
distant friends. Among the speakers during the days of celebration were Rt. Rev.
John T. McNicholas, O.P., Bishop of Duluth, now Archbishop of Cincinnati, and
the late Right Reverend Thomas Shahan, at that time Rector of the Catholic Uni-
versity, Washington, D. C.
Since the education of youth is the chief work of the community, the Sisters devote
their lives to preparation and study. Summer sessions at St. Catharine Junior College,
now in its twelfth year, and courses offered at Siena College, Memphis, where the Catho-
lic University conducts an extension summer session, provide the Sisters with oppor-
tunities of study within their own community. Other students take courses at the lead-
ing colleges and universities in the vicinity of their convents where they prepare for
their master and doctorate degrees. A house of studies erected in 1938, near the
Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. provides the Sisters with every
convenience of study.
The government of the congregation, originally under the direction of the Provincial
of St. Joseph Province and later transferred to the ordinary of the Diocese is now under
a Cardinal Protector, resident at Rome. It was Rt. Rev. Bishop Esser, O.P. and Rt.
Rev. John T. McNicholas, O.P. who generously assisted in securing papal approbation,
placing the community in the rank of approved congregations. The revision of the
rule in 1918 provided that a Mother General and four Counsellors be created as a
ruling body to replace that of Prioress. This revision of the rule in its approved form
680 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
has been a model for other Dominican communities interested in revising the govern-
ment of their congregations. Candidates for admission to the Order are received upon
application. Certificates of health and recommendations from approved religious auth-
orities are among the requirements for admission. After two years of intensive re-
ligious and educational training the subject is allowed to make profession, after which
she may begin the work entrusted to her by the community.
The history of the development of the Dominican Order in the United States has
been fruitful and inspiring. This fact is especially true of Dominican communities of
women, whose foundation was laid by Mother Angela Sansbury and her companions,
on the banks of Cartwright Creek a century and a quarter ago. Scarcely can one
grasp the magnitude of the work of those pioneers in the wilderness of America. Be-
sides the outdoor labor there was the struggle to adapt the interior life of the congre-
gation to the conditions of time and place. In both they succeeded eminently, with
little notice or encouragement or approbation of the world. Today, contemplating
the result of their work, the expansion of the congregation, the multiplication of their
schools, the excellence of their educational training, the holiness of their members, one
realizes how truly was that little band of women the instrument of God for the dis-
semination of knowledge and the sanctification of souls.
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF NAZARETH, KENTUCKY
By Sister Mary Ramona Mattingly, S.C.N.
When Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, the first Bishop of Bardstown, took possession '
of his diocese in June 1811, he was welcomed to Kentucky by the members of more
than a thousand Catholic families many of whom had emigrated from Maryland before
Kentucky achieved statehood. Reverend Stephen Theodore Badin, the first priest or-
dained in the United States, had been sent to Kentucky by Bishop John Carroll in
1793. Here, he with the assistance of Reverend Charles Nerinckx and other missionary
priests had ministered to the spiritual needs of the settlers, supervised the erection
of sixteen log churches, and zealously promoted the spread of the Catholic religion in
scattered districts. Life, both physical and spiritual, was vigorous on the frontier, and
Bishop Flaget soon realized that vast possibilities were present for the development of
a nourishing Catholic center if facilities for Catholic education were available.
The formation of religious congregations of women who would supply this need was
suggested, and the communities of both the Sisters of Loretto and the Sisters of Charity
of Nazareth were established near Bardstown in 1812.
The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth consider Reverend John Baptist David and
Mother Catherine Spalding as co-founders. The former, who was later made Bishop
of Mauricastro, was the devoted friend and assistant of Bishop Flaget, and accom-
panied him to Kentucky; the latter was the first superior of the congregation. De-
cember 1, 1812, is the date of the foundation since on that day Miss Teresa Carrico
and Miss Elizabeth Wells left their respective homes with the purpose of becoming
Sisters, and took possession of two rooms in a log cabin which had been prepared for
their accommodation near Saint Thomas Seminary.
The humble convent was christened "Nazareth" and the Sisters soon became known
as Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. By Easter in 1813 the community numbered six,
and at that time Sister Catherine Spalding, although less than twenty years of age,
was chosen superior. She was singularly fitted for the work intrusted to her, and
for almost fifty years guided her associates by word and example.
In the early years most of the members of the congregation came from Catholic
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 681
homes in the vicinity, and were trained for the teaching profession by Father David,
an experienced educator, who had taught at Anger in France and at Baltimore and
Georgetown before coming to Kentucky. His educational ideals, outlined more than
one hundred thirty years ago, are applicable today, and as the basis of the educational
philosophy of the Nazareth community have been responsible for much of the success
it has attained. He insisted that the congregation must adopt the best in educational
policies; that the Sisters be trained in the most approved methods, and thoroughly
prepared for their work, which was to be always solid rather than brilliant.
Father David was relieved of some of his responsibilities by the arrival of Miss Ellen
O'Connell of Baltimore who joined the little community early in 1814. She was a
gifted woman, an experienced teacher with an excellent education, and as Sister Ellen
she gave invaluable aid to Mother Catherine in the selection and preparation of
teachers. Sister Ellen was directress of the first school which was opened on August
23, 1814, and in it she gave practical application to the ideals which were inculcated
by Father David and Mother Catherine. In 1822 the mother house of the congrega-
tion and the school were moved to the present site two miles south of Bardstown, and
two years later Nazareth Academy had one hundred boarders. Henry Clay presented
diplomas to the members of the first graduating class in 1825, and presided at the
public examination which preceded this function.
In 1829 the Sisters sought and obtained from the Kentucky legislature a charter
which gave the congregation legal existence and its official name, The Nazareth
Literary and Benevolent Institution, and also empowered it to grant academic degrees.
At that date Nazareth Academy was already the alma mater of daughters of repre-
sentative families, both Catholic and non-Catholic, and the Sisters had established
three schools, which are still existing, in other sections of Kentucky. The first, Bethle-
hem Academy at Bardstown, was opened in 1819; the second, Saint Vincent Academy,
was established in Union County near Morganfield in 1821; and two years later Sisters
went to Scott County to establish the third institution at White Sulphur on the
Limestone Road. Saint Catherine Academy, as it was called, was transferred to Lex-
ington in 1833.
Two years after the charter was granted, Mother Catherine opened the first Catholic
school in Louisville in a small building adjoining Saint Louis Church. This was the
beginning of Presentation Academy, and two other outstanding institutions of Louis-
ville, Saint Vincent Orphanage and Saint Joseph Infirmary, originated from the same
foundation. Both were the outgrowth of Mother Catherine's charitable interests in
orphans and sick persons in the vicinity.
Meanwhile the school at Nazareth was making rapid and steady progress. The
earliest printed copy of the curriculum is found in the Catholic Almanac for 1833-35.
In it reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, geography (with the use of
globes) , history, rhetoric, botany, natural philosphy including the principles of as-
tronomy, optics, chemistry, etc., plain sewing, marking, needlework, drawing, painting,
music, and the French language, are enumerated, and it also notes that "a course of
Lectures on Rhetoric and Philosophy will be given annually by the Professors of St.
Joseph College." In 1841 another advertisement records the addition of Italian and
Spanish languages, the harp, guitar, and dancing, to the list of subjects taught. A
clause in the same notice states that: "no solicitude or influence is used to change the
religious principles or creed of the pupils; should any manifest a desire for such change,
the parents or guardians are informed of the same."
The earliest existing catalogue of Nazareth Academy is dated 1857. This and those
following years indicate a numerous attendance of girls from the southern states. In
9— Vol. II
682 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
1860 the enrollment from Louisiana alone was one hundred girls; in the following year
the registrants from both Mississippi and Louisiana outnumbered those from Kentucky.
The proximity to Nazareth of Saint Joseph College, Bardstown and Saint Mary College
near Lebanon was advantageous in securing patronage from the deep south and else-
where. The enrollment continued to increase until the end of the Civil War period,
and during the conflict more than four hundred resident students were at Nazareth.
When the war was concluded, however, many girls returned to their homes in the
affected areas and took up the work of supporting families made destitute through
the ravages of war and deprived of the care of fathers and brothers who were killed
in battle.
With the reconstruction of the southern regions, greater educational facilities became
available and it was not necessary to journey to Kentucky to secure these advantages.
Through the years, however, it has become traditional in many southern families to
send daughters to Nazareth, and a great percentage of the student body has continued
to be descendants and relatives of students of early days. Another factor in maintain-
ing traditions at Nazareth has been the comparatively few changes in administrative
personnel. Sisters Ellen O'Connell, Columba Carroll, Marietta Murphy, Mary Ig-
natius Fox each served as directress for a long period of years, and the present dean and
directress, Sister Margaret Gertrude Murphy, has served since 1937.
Ecclesiastical superiors and chaplains residing at Nazareth have likewise greatly in-
fluenced the institution. These, too, have served long terms of office and have come to
know more than one generation of Nazareth students. Bishop David, who is foremost
in this list, gave unstintedly of his time and talent until 1833. Reverend Joseph Hazel-
tine proved a worthy successor between 1835 and 1861, and he is largely responsible
for the excellent records of early students which are on file at Nazareth. Reverend
Francis Chambige, a recognized authorized authority in the physical sciences, proved a
valuable addition to Nazareth's faculty, and shared his knowledge with both Sisters and
students. His mineralogical and geological specimens were given to the school, and they
form the nucleus of a valuable collection. From 1871 to 1900 students of Nazareth
were privileged to share the friendship and guidance of Reverend David Russell, a
former vice-rector of the American College of Louvain. His interest and industry
are recorded in the museum in a full collection of the various woods found in the
vicinity of the motherhouse. Reverend Richard Davis, who became chaplain in 1903,
gave thirty-eight years of his life to Nazareth. He was an experienced teacher, a great
lover of the classics, and an earnest advocate of a thorough training in physical educa-
tion. He was the donor of the two medals awarded each year to a college and an
academy student.
Nazareth is greatly indebted to these and other benefactors for their aid in attaining
and maintaining the high moral standards for which the institution is noted. The educa-
tional influence of Nazareth, the oldest boarding school west of the Allegheny moun-
tains, can be judged from the fact that since 1814 thousands of students have enrolled
from many states of the United States and from Latin American countries. During
the past twenty-five years students from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and South America have
been on the school roster, but 1943 brought the first group, five college freshmen and
three academy students, from Costa Rica.
The Nazareth Alumnae Association was formed in 1896, and Mrs. Anna Bradford
Miles, a niece of Jefferson Davis, was elected first president. Since its organization
the society has seconded the work of the Sisters in all that benefits the college and
academy. Notable achievements have been the presentation of the reading room, rest
house, gymnasium, and chairs for the auditorium.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 683
When developments in the educational world called for accreditation and certifica-
tion, Nazareth welcomed these movements. In 1913 the high school department of
the academy was accredited by the University of Kentucky, and the following year
it was affiliated with the Catholic University of America. In 1920 the institution was
accorded membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools,-
and in the National Catholic Educational Association.
Preparations were made for the opening of a community normal school in 1914.
In that year and thereafter, summer schools have been held in which courses in methods
and administration are offered to prospective and in-service teachers and administra-
tors. The junior college department was added in 1921 and this, together with the
normal school, received recognition from the Kentucky State Department of Education
in 1922. The junior college became a member of the Southern Association of Col-
leges and Secondary Schools in 1929, and the program of college studies was raised
to the senior level in 1937 through incorporation with Nazareth College in Louisville.
During the more than one hundred thirty years of its existence, the Congregation of
the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth has established schools in many sections of the
United States, from Mississippi to Massachusetts, from Maryland to Oregon. The
community now numbers more than thirteen hundred members, and educational ac-
tivities are carried on in two colleges, thirty-seven high schools and ninety-seven grade
schools. Two of the high schools and six of the grammar schools are located in rural
sections of Kentucky, and one high school and five grammar schools are attended by
colored children of the state. The total enrollment in schools conducted by the Sisters
of Charity of Nazareth is more than thirty thousand pupils of which almost one-half
are sons and daughters of Kentucky citizens.
CARDOME VISITATION ACADEMY
By Emma Vorhees Meyer
Cardome Visitation Academy, Georgetown, Kentucky, occupies the Governor Robin-
son Estate to which the Sisters moved their school for young ladies which they had
established at White Sulphur in 1875.
At Georgetown in the District of Columbia is the oldest house of the Visitation in
America which had been established by Miss Alice Lalor and two companions under
the direction of Father Leonard Neale, S.J., a native of Charles County, Maryland.
When Father Neale was created Bishop of Baltimore, the highest dignitary of the
Church in the United States, he obtained from Pius VII a grant for the group to be
considered as belonging to the Order of the Visitation. Mention should be made here
that the site of the Georgetown house in the District is one of historic interest to
American educators because it marks the spot where Miss Lalor and her Sisters
opened, June 24, 1799, what became the first free school in the District of Columbia.
The Visitation Sisters made their first Kentucky settlement at Maysville, on the
Ohio, in 1865. From the Maysville group seven Sisters established a school at White
Sulphur ten years later.
White Sulphur had much to recommend it to the Sisters. The winding Elkhorn
was mentioned in descriptions to be found in magazines and newspapers of the State.
One mentions that visitors to White Sulphur referred to "that beautiful Elkhorn
tract ... to which no description can do justice." Known as a particularly healthful
section, it was in the neighborhood chosen by Colonel Richard M. Johnson, Vice
President of the United States, when he thought it wise to move his Choctaw Academy
from Blue Spring. He had also erected there a hotel two hundred feet long, with
double verandas, as well as a similar building called "The Tavern" in order that the
684 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
many who desired to drink the water might be accommodated. The establishment was
referred to as a watering place of "considerable celebrity." One account stated that
a visitor "described a fashionable company of between 150 and 200 happy mortals
quaffing water and luxurating in the shades of the forest trees." He went on to say
that he spent one night there when there was a ball attended by the "beauty and re-
finement of Kentucky."
White Sulphur was also inseparately associated with the history of the Church in
Kentucky, for it was there that one of the first churches in the State had been erected.
The first humble structure of logs had been so much frequented that the ever increasing
congregation had, in 1820, constructed a handsome and substantial church which was
placed under the patronage of St. Pius. About thirty-eight years later the Covington
Diocese had been created with the Rt. Rev. C. A. Carrell, S.J., D.D. as first bishop.
The scholarly prelate found the retirement of White Sulphur so pleasing that he spent
much time there. Of interest to educators as the region where Indian students of the
now extinct Choctaw Academy had returned to their people as "stars in the dark night,"
it is interesting also as the place where Bishop Carrell established a college for young
men. This college flourished until the breaking of the War for Southern Independence
when the students laid down their books to take up arms for the South and her cause.
An Orphan Asylum for Boys succeeded the college but it was not a success.
It was also at White Sulphur that Father Stephen Theodore Badin, the first priest
ordained within the limits of the thirteen original states, had settled following the trip
he made in company with Father Barriere from Washington, D. C. to Lexington,
Kentucky, walking all the way except that part of the trip on flatboat from Pittsburg
down the Ohio river to Maysville.
A beautiful healthful region where a historic church had a bishop actively interested
in education and which was a center of the States's social life and "meeting place of
the brilliant seekers of health or pleasure" was a challenge to the Sisters who held a
long and enviable record for successful teaching and who had established a school at
Maysville in 1865. That such a place would be favorable to the establishment of a
school for young ladies was proven by the success of the venture which was headed by
Mother Mary Angela Sweeney.
To Mount Admirabilis, for that is the name by which the Academy was first known,
Kentuckians of culture and refinement sent their daughters who soon had as their
fellow students young ladies from other states. The course of instruction, equal to
those in the best academies of the East, set a high standard for the education of young
women. Students continued to come in such growing numbers that not only the faculty
but the equipment and accommodations of the Academy were constantly being enlarged.
In September, 1875, there were seventeen rooms for fifteen boarders and a number of
day pupils. Three years later a new building was erected containing a study hall, music
hall and a dormitory for girls. In 1888 the Academy's sixty boarders and numerous day
pupils were housed and taught in a number of buildings, which gave the appearance of
a little village, and the Academy was referred to as one of the leading educational insti-
tutions of the South.
Finally, the Sisters were faced both with the desirability of locating where better
travel facilities would accommodate the growing number of young ladies who came
from a distance, and the necessity of holding a clear title to a more extensive acreage
upon which more commodious buildings could be erected. Being members of an Order
in which each group is independent of every other group the responsibility of deciding
upon a new location and the expense incurred was now upon those who had invested
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 685
practically all their funds in improvements. With characteristic fortitude they made
their own decisions and financial arrangements.
After a time the Sisters found available in the same delightful region, Scott County,
an Estate on the crest of a gentle eminence dominating an extensive panorama of the
country with the beloved Elkhorn forming a cresent about its fertile meadows. Here
was not only the same dry bracing air free from violent disturbances but, less than a
mile away near the historic Big Spring known to the Indians and the early settlers of
the West, could be seen the growing county seat, Georgetown, with its railroad stations
and other conveniences. The Lexington-Cincinnati road passed the entrance to the Es-
tate and the Frankfort-Cincinnati trains stopped there. The location seemed ideally
suited to their purpose and so Mother Mary Agatha Cahill, representing the group,
made the first cash payment upon their new home to which they moved in 1896.
A hospitable mansion famous in the early days as a frequent rendezvous of great
leaders and which had welcomed LaFayette, Webster, Clay and other illustrous visitors,
had been built in 1821 by Major Benjamin Stuart Chambers, an officer in the War of
1812, who called it "Acacia Grove." The beautifully proportioned and well preserved
mansion had passed through the hands of different owners until it came into the pos-
session of Governor James F. Robinson who changed its name to "Cardome" (Caret
Domus.) The superb banquet hall and delicately turned spiral stairway, both added
by Governor Robinson, are prized architectural features of the old mansion which also
has some examples of beautifully panelled woodwork.
To the original mansion the new owners added spacious class rooms, study halls, and
dormitories. A few years later plans for the construction of a new Main Building were
submitted by a firm of eminent architects and a structure of imposing proportions was
then erected, the gem of which is the beautiful Romanesque chapel on the second floor.
This building, connected with the old mansion, is heated by a modern plant located at
a safe distance and is connected by modern walks to a recreation building called "White
Hall" erected in 1941 on the site of a small building which had been moved to the
Estate from White Sulphur. A wide veranda leading from the study hall and audi-
torium overlooks the immense recreation grounds reserved for the exclusive use of the
students.
Encouraged to spend all the time not required for study and class work in the open
air the young ladies are offered every possible diversion for their recreation periods.
On the north side of the playgrounds are concrete tennis courts and basketball grounds;
on the west, the outside gymnasium; while the archery and croquet sets adorn the east
portion of the extensive campus. Canoeing upon the beautiful Elkhorn creek which is
within the Academy grounds and "hikes" under the watchful eyes of two chaperones
usually end with a weiner roast at the outdoor grill by the tennis courts, in one of the
summer houses or in "White Hall." During the winter season musical, dramatic and
literary evenings are frequent. The students have, in addition to their club rooms, the
large auditorium with its musical instruments and its smooth floor where they may dance.
Graduates of the Academy are admitted to colleges and universities without examina-
tion, having spent four years under the training of a faculty whose members are highly
qualified and professionally trained. The faculty is headed by His Excellency the Most
Reverend Bishop, Francis W. Howard, D.D. for twenty years President of the National
Catholic Educational Association.
Now, the first traces of the old sulphur spring in the narrow dell just beyond the
old convent grounds and the White Sulphur Church, and the pile of ruins on the hill
above, are the last vestages of the old order of things and the ante helium days of
social elegance and distinction. But near the city limits of Georgetown is the stately
686 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
entrance to Georgetown Visitation Academy where busses along the Dixie Highway
make regularly scheduled stops to accommodate young ladies from all parts of the
United States who, under the direction of the Sisters, find the constantly serene and
maternal atmosphere which the Sisters of the Visitation have always emphasized.
The Order of the Visitation was founded in France in 1610. Its founders, St. Francis
de Sales, one of the great writers of the 17th Century (now, patron of the Catholic
press) and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, were both of the nobility. A culture of over
three hundred years prevails in all academies of the Visitation and each girl who comes
under the strong, kindly guidance of the Sisters is regarded as a sacred personality.
The modern dictum of education — "Learning is specific" was not unknown to the
founders of the Order; and the members, trained in their school of philosophy, are
conscious of their heritage and their responsibility as teachers. That spirit of refinement
and gentility which marked the beginnings of the Visitation has been handed down
through the generations in its academies.
Cardome is a school of Christian education. To the graces of the mind and body
it would add the higher beauties of the soul. It would inculcate the virtues which
ennoble, strengthen and refine; which form the crown of pure womanhood and prepare
the girl to go forth to the battle of life, in truth, a "valiant woman."
ST. JOSEPH'S PREPARATORY SCHOOL— BARDSTOWN
In the dim dawn of Catholicity in Kentucky (1819 to be exact), St. Joseph's Col-
lege was founded under the aegis of Bishop Flaget. The Reverend George O. M.
Elder was first president. The students varied in number from one hundred to two
hundred and fifty, many of whom were from Louisiana and Mississippi. Classes were
first held in the seminary basement, but as the south and later north wings were built
to be finally connected by the present main building, professors and students filled
all available quarters as they were completed. In January, 1837, disaster struck when
a fire starting under the roof gutted the main building. This hastened the death of
Father Elder who died eight months later. Succeeding presidents were the Reverends
Ignatius Raynolds, Dr. M. J. Spalding, J. M. Lancaster, and Edward McMahon until
the Jesuits took the school over in 1848.
Reverend Peter Verhegen was the first Jesuit Superior of St. Joseph's. In June,
1848, he became Rector of the College and St. Joseph's Cathedral parish. Several
secular clergy also helped to staff the college. Under Father Emig's presidency the
present Flaget Hall was erected. Many ground improvements were made plus the
liquidating of a $23,000.00 debt. Trouble arose, however, between the Jesuits and the
diocese in that the property of St. Joseph's had been given to them in trust. This
""Trust" clause was objectionable in the contract. The Jesuit Fathers petitioned the
diocese to deed the property to them in "fee simple." This was not granted. The
property was then redeeded to the diocese in 1868 when the Jesuits left the state. In
the fall of 1869 the preparatory seminary was moved from St. Thomas to St. Joseph's
College. Reverend P. de Fraine was superior. In 1872 boys were admitted who had
no thought of studying for the priesthood. In 1872 Father Coughlan became president
until his death in 1877. Reverend William J. Dunn assumed the presidency for one
year when Father O'Connell took charge. In 1880 Reverend W. P. Mackin became
president at which time the college was in a promising and flourishing condition. Father
O'Connell resucceeded to the presidency in 1887 and remained its head until the college
closed in 1889.
The closing of St. Joseph's occurred when the Diocese was faced with the imminent
abandonment of St. Mary's College at Lebanon. Unable to support two colleges, St.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 687
Joseph's was closed and the students sent to St. Mary's to bolster a slender enrollment.
St. Joseph's remained vacant until 1892 when the orphanage at St. Thomas, which
had burned, was transferred to St. Joseph's. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and
their charges occupied the main building until 1902 when they left for more suitable
quarters in Louisville. The college again was vacant until 1911. An uncommon coin-
cidence then took place.
Back in 1836 a poor travel-worn pilgrim named Theodore Ryken was visiting Bishop
Chabrat at Bardstown. He was then seeking episcopal support for his projected con-
gregation of teachers which he was to found in Bruges, Belgium in 1839. No doubt
he visited the beautiful campus and buildings of St. Joseph's College which was di-
rectly behind the Bishop's residence. Little did he realize that the congregation that
was still but a figment in his mind would one day be the faculty of this famous center
of learning. Such a coincidence after a span of almost a century assures us that we
live in an ordered world, that there is a design for living. This rhyming of life's epic
between the visit of an unknown, poverty clothed Ryken and the accession to St.
Joseph's seventy-two years later of his own religious family makes one tingle. When the
Xaverian Brothers, which Theodore Ryken founded, took control of St. Joseph's amid
the panoply and splendor of the apostolic delegation somewhere in titanic space a planet
must have smiled — smiled and whirled in reverse.
1. St. Joseph's College was reopened September 9, 1911. It was formally dedicated
by Most Reverend Diomede Falconio, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. Brother
Sulpicius, C.F.X., long engaged in Catholic educational work in Kentucky, Virginia, and
New England was the first President, when control of the school was assumed by the
Xaverian Brothers.
(a) 85 pupils — 50 day and 35 boarders were enrolled on opening day. Before the
end of the year, the registration reached 100.
(b) Three distinctive courses of study were pursued — Classical, Latin, Scientific, and
General Business.
(c) Extra-curricular activities consisted of various sports, debating society, literary
club, biking and over land hiking clubs.
(d) In four years, the school gained an enviable reputation for a high scholastic
standard, excellent discipline, and admirable school spirit.
(e) Student body was represented by a majority of students from Kentucky, In-
diana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Illinois.
2. Brother Fidelis, C.F.X., became headmaster in 1915. His administration was
marked by an increased enrollment, additions made to the gymnasium, and a new
power plant was built.
3. Brother Ignatius, C.F.X., assumed charge of the administration in 1918. Dur-
ing his directorship, the school celebrated its centenary of establishment (1919). A
number of Alumni from the East and West, who had been former students, attended
the centennial banquet which was held at the school in June, 1919.
4. Brother Victorian, a member of the school faculty since 1913, became head-
master in August, 1920. He remained in charge during two terms of three years each.
During his administration, St. Joseph Alumni began to assume leadership. Many had
become lawyers, doctors, and prominent business men. They manifested an interest in
the school by their frequent visits and by recruiting the student body.
5. Brother Vincent, C.F.X., was headmaster from 1926-1928. During his regime
the old stone wall which faced the entire frontage and the handball alley, which had
been built on the front lawn were removed. The campus was hedged, thus giving the
property a more modern appearance.
688 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
6. Owing to illness, Brother Vincent resigned in 1928, and Brother Victorian as-
sumed charge during 1928-1929.
7. Brother Aurelius, C.F.X., was appointed headmaster in 1929. He continued in
office for two years. During his administration, the buildings were renovated and re-
decorated. The General Commercial course was discontinued and a General English
course supplanted it.
8. During the summer of 1929, Brother Benignus, C.F.X., was appointed to the
office of headmaster and remained as principal for one year. During his principalship
the school gymnasium burned.
9. Brother Liguori, C.F.X., became headmaster in August, 1932. During his di-
rectorship, a new gymnasium was built and the alumni association was formally orga-
nized and officers were elected. The name of the school changed from St. Joseph
College to St. Joseph Preparatory School.
10. Brother Colombiere, C.F.X., succeeded Brother Liguori as headmaster in 1938.
During his principalship, the school has reached a new record of enrollment. One
hundred and nfty boys are now enrolled. Among its enrollment are representatives
from six states. The school has maintained a Class "A" rating since 1936, when it
was so classified by the Kentucky State Board of Education.
Today St. Joseph's Prep is preeminent among Catholic boarding schools of this
area. Advances have been made in courses and equipment to keep pace with the ever
progressing light of education. At present, St. Joseph's is a shining sword lying in
the hands of the sovereign state of Kentucky. Sheathed for over one hundred years
in the scabbard of Catholic spirit and tradition, its power and strength is now being
wielded in shaping future God-fearing citizens for an even greater America.
ABBEY OF OUR LADY OF GETHSEMANI
Gethsemani Abbey lies nestled amid the knobs of Nelson County, Kentucky. Its
foundation is due, in the designs of God, to a crisis which the Abbey of Melleray in
the Department of Lower Loire, France, was facing in the eventful year 1848.
On the part of the government eviction and expulsion were threatening, whilst the
community had grown into an overcrowded hive, and a swarm was inevitable. So for
a double reason it was deemed advisable to anticipate events and seek a refuge in
foreign lands.
Coincidentally Bishop Flaget, the first incumbent of the See of Louisville, had just
entered a request for a Trappist foundation in his diocese. Everything contributed to
make his wish realizable, and in the autumn of that same year a band of forty Trap-
pists, to be reenforced shortly after by a second detachment of fourteen, set out for
the Wilds of Kentucky where, in Nelson County, a farm had been purchased for them
from the Sisters of Loretto.
They set sail on November 2nd, and arrived via New Orleans at the present site of
the monastery on December 21, 1848. This date marks the official opening of the new
foundation. Pioneer work was the daily program of the monks, but we may say what
the Fathers of our Country said when they set on foot the great movement which gave
us liberty and put us on the roll of the world's great nations: "Annuit Coeptis" — He
blessed the work now begun.
In 1850 the monastery was canonically erected into an abbey. The initial holder of
the abbatial chair was the leader of the expedition to the New World, — Dom Eutro-
pius Proust, and it was the Most Reverend Martin J. Spalding, then Bishop of Louis-
ville, who conferred on him the Abbatial Blessing, and so became the first prelate to
bless and install an abbot in the New World.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 689
The monks set to work gathering material for a church and adequate buildings. Work
was commenced in the face of many difficulties whilst the "Civil War" was raging.
However at the end of the struggle between North and South, in 1866, the church was
consecrated and the buildings dedicated to divine service. The Ceremony was performed
by the Most Reverend John B. Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati, whilst the Most.
Reverend Martin J. Spalding, now become Archbishop of Baltimore, delivered the
address.
The second Abbot, Dom Benedict Berger devoted all his energies to the development
of the religious spirit, to prayer and penance, — the real purpose of the Order of Trap-
pists, or Cistercians of the Strict observance. His term lasted 28 years, and he died
in 1890.
His successor, Dom Edward Chaix-Bourbon was remarkable for his personal holiness.
His life, in general, was an inspiration and an incitement to good for all who were
privileged to come into contact with him. His health failing, he resigned after eight
years, and became Chaplain for the Trappistine Nuns of Notre Dame des Gardes,
m France.
The fourth Abbot, Dom Edmund M. Obrecht, was a man of eminent endowments of
mind and heart. During his long administration of 36 years he raised the Abbey to a
position of honor and recognition. Shortly after his entrance into office Gethsemani
celebrated its Golden Jubilee, June 7, 1899. This event brought the monastery into
relations with the most eminent Church Dignitaries in the country. Dom Edmund
was efficient in both material and spiritual activities. His crowning achievement in the
temporal order was the enclosure wall, — a stretch of masonry, 8 feet high and describ-
ing a circumference of one and a quarter miles around the monastic buildings.
The year 1924 was perhaps the most memorable in the annals of the Institute, made
so by the Triple Jubilee kept on May 21st. Gethsemani held its Diamond Jubilee
whilst the Abbot celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood
and the Silver Jubilee of his Abbatial Blessing and Installation.
Gethsemani School and College
A few words on the School and the College will not be amiss here. Gethsemani
School and College are the outgrowth of Christian charity in the pioneer days when
Kentucky was just emerging from the wilderness where Daniel Boone had hunted and
fought, and where Henderson and Harrot bartered with their tawny host, the Chero-
kee. It was not at first planned or designed for a school, but providentially served to
fill a crying need, and providentially withdrew when the need no longer existed.
Its inception synchronized with the arrival of the Trappists in the State. Already
in 1851 the founders of the new monastery recognized the distressing situation of the
surrounding country-folk, owing to lack of schooling and religious instruction. One
of their first cares after settling down, was to open a school for the gratuitous educa-
tion of boys. Those were thrilling days full of romantic interest. Mr. John A. Doyle,
of Louisville who died in his 91st year in 1942, loved to tell of the olden times when
he attended school here whilst Grant and Lee were battling in Virginia. Pupils of all
denominations were admitted, and soon there was an enrollment of 60 boys. Subjects
taught in the early days were the 3 R's and grammar. On Sundays the monks imparted
religious instruction to a large congregation, doubly attracted by the additional novelty
of having members of the Trappist Order, the children of Citeaux who rank the great
St. Bernard as their outstanding ornament and light, in their midst. The chant, es-
pecially that of the historic and incomparable "Salve Regina" was always a drawing
card, second only to the Faith which was the light and the life of their existence.
690 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
In the course of time rudimentary training was considered inadequate, and at the
request of many amongst its benefactors and patrons the school was raised to the rank
of a Boarding Institution, and still later became a College with powers from the State
to confer academic degrees.
It continued its activities for decades whilst towns grew up to stud the map of
Nelson County. In 1912 on March 1st a fire destroyed both College and School
buildings, and it was decided not to rebuild, as the needs which had occasioned the in-
ception of this particular activity no longer existed.
Gethsemani Today
Today Gethsemani gives its special attention in the line of educational activities to its
Ecclesiastical Seminary and to Retreats for both clergy and laymen. Under the guidance
of its 5th Abbot, Dom Frederic M. Dunne, the first native American to hold the office,
the community is flourishing. Its members are practically all native born and number
140. The hidden mission of prayer and sacrifice for the benefit of a suffering mankind
goes on night and day, according to the Holy Rule of St. Benedict. The Trappist
Order, on the whole, numbers about 80 houses, in all parts of the world, and its member-
ship of monks and nuns runs up a total of 5,000. In character it is the member of a
Contemplative Order, doing no outside ministry, but giving all its best attention to
the execution of the Divine Office and to Church Service, whilst the members support
themselves by the labor of their hands.
It is trusted that the mission of the Order will continue to benefit our dear country,
and our Kentucky Commonwealth in particular. If Moses on the mountain won the
battle for his people by prayer and supplication, may we not be confident that the im-
mutable God of Armies will have kind regard to the men and women who have conse-
crated all their talents and the powers of soul and body to His service alone? Their
prayers and sacrifices will avail much to preserve our homeland in prosperity in days
of peace, bring it the blessings of victory in the crucial day of battle and keep it ever
true to the high standard set by the Founders of the Kentucky Commonwealth: —
"United, — in prayer and good will, — we stand; divided, — by discord and enmity, — we
fall"; true to the standard raised by the Fathers of the Country, so beautifully con-
ceived and so warmly cherished as the pledge of further thrift and safety and peace, —
IN GOD WE TRUST.
HISTORY OF FANCY FARM AND ST. JEROME CHURCH
By Mrs. Henry H. Hunt
Near the midwestern boundary of Graves County, about ten miles west of Mayfield
on State Highway 98, lies the thriving and neat little town of Fancy Farm. It ranks
among the oldest settlements in Jackson's Purchase, the first pioneers coming to the
site in 1829.
Connected with and inseparable from the history of this town is the story of St.
Jerome Catholic Church. To reveal the history of one is to unravel the life story of
the other. For what became known as Fancy Farm, was at first only a small Catholic
settlement with the first St. Jerome Church, a small log structure (built in 1836), as
the center of social as well as religious activity. 1836 is considered the date of the
beginning of the parish, while a post office was not established or a name given the
place till several years later.
St. Jerome is doubtless, one of the oldest churches in the Purchase, and is the oldest
of nine Catholic parishes in the same area. She continues, as she has from the begin-
ning and through a century and more of existence, to be the guiding spirit that rules
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 691
the lives and fortunes of her people. She is the hub or axis about which dial the
principal events in the foundation, growth, and development of Fancy Farm.
During the past eight years, the parish has been under the pastorate of Rev. Edward
Russell, a native of Springfield, Kentucky. He received his early education in the graded
school there and later attended St. Xavier College, Cincinnati. His studies in philosophy
and theology were made at St. Meinrad Seminary, St. Meinrad, Indiana.
The present St. Jerome Church, now fifty years old, beautiful, unique, and impres-
sive, almost invariably arrests the attention of passing and visiting strangers. Recently
renovated both exteriorly and interiorly by Fr. Russell, it stands serene and imposing,
presiding, over the enterprises of the surrounding country and the little town whose
bosom it adorns. It is the only church at Fancy Farm or for miles around as the people
all profess the Catholic faith. This is the reason for the immense proportions of St.
Jerome as a rural church; the secret of her uniqueness. It is also the one thing that
gives to Fancy Farm a far-and-wide reputation; one not common to towns of only fout
hundred souls.
Under the pastorate of St. Jerome are two other Catholic parishes, branch missions
of and once a part of St. Jerome parish. These are St. Charles, Carlisle County, about
one and one-half miles west of Kirbyton and St. Denis' lying between Dublin and
Beulah.
Remnants of Catholics of Fancy Farm also form a portion of St. Joseph parish,
Mayfield. The first church there was built in 1887 by Rev. Lawrence B. Ford who was
then pastor of Fancy Farm. The St. Joseph parish continued under the pastorate of
St. Jerome till 1911, when a resident pastor took charge.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Bound up in the history of Fancy Farm of St. Jerome Church and the missions, is
the story of the people who came and settled here in the early part of the nineteenth
century.
The people themselves are almost one hundred percent lineal descendents of the
persecuted Catholics who came over from England with the Catholic Lord Baltimore,
Cecil Calvert, and founded the Catholic colony of Maryland in 1634.
Descendents of these, one hundred and fifty years later, decided to settle in Ken-
tucky. They were doubtless moved by a spirit of adventure and the desire to found
new homes on new and better lands. They were also actuated by a desire to evade new
persecutions which, according to the history of Maryland, were at that time rather potent.
By the terms of the pact signed in Baltimore, sixty families agreed to settle in Ken-
tucky on Pottenger's and Cartwright's creek at the nearest possible date. The first
group, led by Basil Hayden, left St. Charles and St. Mary's counties in the early
months of 1785. Trekking across the mountains of upper Virginia, they came by way
of Pittsburgh, and from there on down the Ohio on flatboats. Entering the wilderness at
Limestone, (Maysville) they stopped by Goodwin's Station. Pressing on, they reached
Pottenger's creek, their intended destination, by the end of spring of the same year.
There they made their homes, warding off Indian invasion and enduring the toil and
hardships necessary to pioneering in the wilderness of Kentucky. They built the first
Catholic Church in the state, dedicating it to the Holy Cross in 1792. Holy Cross,
Marion County, marks the site of this first Catholic settlement in the state.
Belated arrivals of the signers of the Baltimore Pact came in 1887 and settled on
Cartwright's Creek, about twenty miles from Holy Cross. The site of this settlement,
the birthplace of Lincoln, is Springfield, Kentucky.
692 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Other contingents of the pact got over in the approximate years that followed. In
fact there was a steady influx of Catholics into the state during the last quarter of
the eighteenth century. In all, eight Catholic settlements were made. Besides those
named there were Lebanon, Bardstown, New Hope, New Haven, and Fairfield.
According to records, the first families at Holy Cross and Springfield bore such
names as Hayden, Willett, Carrico, Toon, Hobbs, Spalding, Elliott, Buckman, Cash,
Mills, Riley, Bowlds, Burch, Thomas and Wilson. These same names have been the
most prevalent at Fancy Farm from the beginning to the present time.
FIRST CATHOLICS COME TO PURCHASE
When in 1818 General Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby bought the west end of
our state from the fierce Chicksaw Indians, news of the new and unmolested territory
soon spread throughout the commonwealth. The first white settlers got here in 1821.
Others followed and settlement of the Purchase was soon under way.
Meanwhile, at Springfield in 1808 the Dominican Fathers had erected the first
Church of St. Rose. The same year, there was born in that parish a youngster whose
name now heads the list of Catholic pioneers to Graves County. This was Samuel
Willett.
In July 1828, at the age of twenty he married Elizabeth Hobbs, also of St. Rose
parish. Having heard of the new rich territory, the Purchase, these newlyweds decided
to stake their chances in the west. In the spring of 1829 they made their toilsome
journey cross state on horseback and came to Graves County. Young Sam bought a
half a township of land from the government at the rate of twelve and one-half cents
an acre. His domain embraced all the present site of Fancy Farm.
At Christmas, John W. Willett came to visit his brother, Samuel, and to make his
home here. These two brothers, with a few families that followed in the approximate
years, were the pioneers of St. Jerome's congregation and founders of Fancy Farm.
Ever found to be among the most active members of the neighborhood, they toiled for
the good of the church, and for the furtherance of any enterprises that were conducive
to their civic advancement.
Having been a leader in the building of the first and second churches at Fancy
Farm, Mr. Willett had fondly hoped to see the completion of the present edifice.
However, death claimed him in the year of its erection, June 1892, at the age of 84.
Others who pioneered to these parts were former friends and neighbors of the Wil-
letts in Washington County. Mrs. Polly Hobbs, mother of Sister Julia one of the
first members of the Nazareth Sisterhood, and also mother of Elizabeth Willett, wife
of Samuel Willett, came in 1831. With her came two grown sons, Albert and Thomas
Hobbs. In 1833, William, Hilary, and Lloyd Toon as well as Cornelius and Henry
Carrico brought their families and settled in the vicinity of St. Jerome. John and
James Cash came with their families in 1834. James Cash bought and homesteaded
a place near the present site of St. Denis Church in Hickman County. The late
William Bennett and Louis A. Cash, financiers of Fancy Farm, were his sons. Grand-
sons are the late Edward F. Cash, Will L. Cash, James Cash of Fancy Farm, and
Robert L. Cash of St. Louis. Granddaughters are Mrs. Allie Carrico of Paducah,
Mrs. Edward Gardener of Mayfield, Mrs. Victoria Elliott, Mrs. Maggie Blincoe and
Mrs. Julia Carrico of Fancy Farm.
In 1834, also, Thomas M. Hayden migrated here with ten sons and three daugh-
ters. Several of these were married and had large families at the time. This Thomas
Hayden, the ancestor of all the many Haydens in Jackson's Purchase, as well as of
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 693
a great many in Missouri and Arkansas, was a known direct descendant of the first
Catholics in Kentucky. He was the son of Basil Hayden, whose name is on record
as being the leader of the first group of Catholics who left Maryland and settled Holy
Cross, Kentucky, in 1785. Basil Hayden and his brother of Fancy Farm are his
grandsons.
FIRST CHURCH OF ST. JEROME
The Rev. Elisha Durbin, who for many years was famous as a missionary of all
Western Kentucky, heard of the sprinkling of Catholics in the Purchase. From his
headquarters at Sacred Heart Church, Union County, he visited them as early as
1830 or 1831. In their homes, he administered the sacraments bringing to them the
consolations of their faith.
It was at the exhortation of Father Durbin the first church of St. Jerome was built.
He bought a plot of ground and in 1836 a small log church stood by to mark the zeal
of the pioneer Catholics of Graves County.
Rev. Alfred Hagan, a native of Nelson County, was appointed the first resident
pastor of St. Jerome in 1843. Father Durbin never relented his interest in the parish.
He continued his visitation at long intervals, practicing his ministry here until pre-
vented by enfeebled health about 1885.
POST OFFICE ESTABLISHED, TOWN NAMED
Up to 1845, Father Durbin had acted as postman for the isolated Catholic pioneers.
Collecting their sparce mail at certain stations in the upper counties, he brought it in
his saddle bags as he made his rounds to visit them.
During the pastorate of Father Hagan, the people living near the St. Jerome Church
petitioned for the establishment of a post office in the neighborhood. A Government
Inspector was sent to investigate and report on the matter. While staying here, he
was the guest of Mr. John Peebles an applicant for the position as postmaster. The
Inspector was requested to suggest a suitable name for the new post office. In compli-
ment to the neat home-surroundings and well planned farm of his host, Mr. Peebles,
he suggested the name "Fancy Farm." The post office was established in that year,
1845. The suggested name was applied and the then incipient town has ever since
been known as "Fancy Farm."
Father Hagan died at Fancy Farm in 1846. His remains were interred in the St.
Jerome Cemetery.
Rev. Patrick McNicholas then had the pastorate till about 1851. He was succeeded
by Rev. William Oberhiiiilsman, a Belgian. He began the second church of St. Jerome.
This was to be of brick, burnt on the premises by members of the parish. Death over-
took Father Oberhiiiilsman and the task of completing the church fell to his successor,
Rev. Patrick Bambury. He saw the beautiful ornate brick structure dedicated June 13,
1858. This church after 1893, was used as a town hall and school auditorium. In
1911 it was razed and the brick used in the interior construction of the present rectory.
In the St. Jerome Church Cemetery today stands a plain tomb in the form of a shaft
bearing the insignia of the priesthood. It marks the final resting place of Fathers Hagan
and Oberhiiiilsman.
During and after the Civil War, we find Rev. John M. Beyhurst, Rev. William
Bourke and Rev. Thomas A. Barrett on the roster. From 1871 to 1881 the Carmelite
Fathers, who were then stationed at Paducah, had the pastoral care of St. Jerome.
In 1881 Rev. Richard P. Feehan of the Louisville diocese became the pastor. He
built the first parochial school (the present convent building) at Fancy Farm. This
694 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
school was first opened in September, 1882, with the Franciscan Sisters of Shelby ville,
Kentucky in charge.
The late Mr. W. C. Carrico of Fancy Farm as a lay teacher had had the educa-
tional care of the youngsters of Fancy Farm in his hands before that time.
After eight years here, the Sisters of St. Francis moved to Iowa in 1890. Two
years later the St. Jerome School was reopened by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
This Sisterhood has ever since retained their charge at Fancy Farm. Due to the untiring
zeal of these Sisters, many students have left the portals of St. Jerome's School imbibed
with higher education and more extensive training than is ordinarily obtained from
secular schools of the same standing.
Resigning the pastorate in 1884, Father Feehan was replaced by Rev. Lawrence B.
Ford. He remained in charge till 1888, being the guiding spirit, and winning the love
and respect of the people in whose midst he moved and worked.
Many of the old residents of Fancy Farm remember as far back as the pastorate
of Fathers Bourke and Barrett, of the cherished Carmelites, and of Fathers Feehan
and Ford. We have in Fancy Farm today a white haired patriarch, Mr. James B.
Carrico, who was baptized in his infancy by Rev. Patrick Bambury in 1859. Mr.
Carrico now 84 years of age, is the grandson of the pioneer, Henry Carrico. He has
witnessed the growth of Fancy Farm from a village to its now most modern stage.
On September 30, 1888 Rev. Charles A. Haeseley, who rightly has been called the
"Builder of Fancy Farm," arrived to begin a lengthy pastorate of thirty-two years.
Volumes might be written and all would not be told of the many good deeds performed
by Father Haeseley for the benefit of the people of his parish and the advancement of
Fancy Farm.
Native son of Switzerland of German descent, he came here after having spent eleven
years in the priesthood in Kentucky. With his coming, there distinctly begins in the
history of Fancy Farm what we might term "a period of transition." Here he spent
his best years, giving vent to his genius, and leaving to his credit and to his memory
the only buildings of moment at Fancy Farm — the church, the school, and the rectory.
These buildings are visible proof that Father Haeseley was a man far ahead of his times.
For who would have conceived of buildings of such proportions for a rural parish in the
nineties and early years of the present century. It is to the farsightedness and genius
as well as to the zeal of Father Haeseley that Fancy Farm is indebted for these beautiful
and substantial buildings today.
Seeing the need for a mission church in Carlise County, his first care was the build-
ing of the present St. Charles Church in 1891.
In 1901 Father Lambert, a Jesuit, preached a mission at Fancy Farm. Having
long before seen the urgent need of a larger parochial school, Father Haeseley peti-
tioned of the Bishop of Louisville through Father Lambert the permission to build. The
request was denied at the time. However, filled with the hope of a new school in the
near future, Father Haeseley began preparations for building. Brick was burnt and
lumber was cut and placed on the grounds. In 1907 Father Lambert gave a second
mission at Fancy Farm. At Father Haeseley's request, he again asked the Bishop to
consent to the building of a large parochial school at Fancy Farm. This time the re-
quest was granted. At an expense of $13,000, with much labor and materials furnished
by members of the parish, the present school was erected. Debt on the structure was
cleared by the time it was ready for classes in September, 1909.
The following Sisters of Charity of Nazareth have held the superiorship of St.
Jerome since the beginning of their charge:
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 695
Sister Samuella, who with two others reopened St. Jerome after the Franciscans re-
linquished their charge.
Sister Lazarilla, superior at the time of the opening of the present school.
Sister Mary Josepha— 1911-1915.
Sister Mary Claver, in charge during World War I.
Sister Agnes Patricia, who for twenty-three years was missioned at Fancy Farm as a
primary teacher and superior for one term of six years.
Sister Mary Martnia and Sister Mary Bathildes, both superiors here during the de-
pression.
Sister Helen Frances, enshrined in the hearts of all who knew her.
Sister Mary Carmelia, present Superior, who already claims the love and esteem of
the people of Fancy Farm.
The crowning glory of St. Jerome's School as well as of the parish are her many
former pupils who have devoted themselves to the religious life.
In the priesthood she claims: Rev. Francis M. Burch, Rev. Paul Durbin, Rev.
Hildebrand Elliott, Rev. Rudolph Carrico, Rev. Thomas M. Hayden, Rev. William
Burch.
In the brotherhood: Otis Elder, Brother Dominic.
More than fifty young ladies in recent years have entered the Nazareth sisterhood.
Close on to fifty others have entered other orders, to mention: Mt. St. Joseph's Con-
vent, Davies County, Mt. Clare, Clinton, Iowa, the Holy Cross Sisters of Notre Dame,
Indiana, and others.
In 1913 and 1914 Father Haeseley and his assistant were occupied with the build-
of the St. Denis Church named above.
Rev. Albert J. Thompson was appointed assistant in 1915. With the coming of
World War I, he volunteered his services in the U. S. Army. This left the whole
burden of St. Jerome and the missions on Father Haeseley who already was fast be-
coming enfeebled by age.
In April 1920, a fire, originating in the church, damaged the interior to the extent
as to necessitiate a complete renovation and decoration. To see this huge task through,
Father Haeseley remained at Fancy Farm nearly a year longer than he had intended.
Resigning the pastorate November 20, 1920, he was given the chaplaincy of St.
Joseph's Infirmary, Louisville. His death occurred there October 19, 1926. His re-
mains were interred in St. Louis Cemetery, Louisville.
He was succeeded at Fancy Farm by his assistant, Rev. Albert J. Thompson who
had returned from France to his former post, July, 1919.
Father Thompson had as assistant erected the parochial schools at St. Charles and
St. Denis. In 1923 as pastor of St. Jerome, he directed the exterior renovation of the
church. About 1929 a plot of ground was purchased enlarging the school premises.
In 1931 the present boys' playground was improved and reconstructed. In 1933, due
to the effects of the Depression, it became necessary to ask state aid for the school.
Through the efforts of Father Thompson, this was obtained and the people of St.
Jerome thereby relieved for the time being of the financial burden of the school.
Father Thompson's pastorate was not marked by any great material advancement,
but he certainly had the spiritual interests of his people at heart. It has been said,
"He stood at his post during one of the most trying times in the history of our country,
preaching to the exclusion of all other interests, Christ and Him crucified."
He left Fancy Farm in February, 1935, and took up his charge as pastor of St.
Stephen Church, Owensboro. For the past four or five years he has been pastor of
St. Francis De Sales, Paducah.
696 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
The present pastor, Father Russell, aforenamed took charge of the parish, March 1,
1935. The present assistant pastor is the Rev. Benedict F. Huff, who devotes most of
his time to care of the missions of St. Charles and St. Denis.
During these eight years, he has completely lost himself in service to his people.
His first care was the spiritual advancement of his charges. He organized societies:
The Holy Name, Altar Society, Sodality of Our Lady and Children's Holy Childhood
Society, all conducive to the spiritual benefits of members. The material side has not
been overlooked. Large debts have been completely cancelled and the church renovated
both exteriorly and interiorly at an expense of about twenty thousand dollars. The
convent building and school have each been repaired and improved.
Father Russell plans to build an auditorium and classrooms to supplement the now
crowded school. The St. Jerome School has under the pastorate of Father Russell be-
come consolidated. The Pirtle, Wrights, Richardson, Salem schools of Graves County
and the Redix school of Carlisle have of recent years been merged with St. Jerome's; the
people of those districts so desiring this change.
Our Boys in the Service
Father Russell's pastorate here will ever be remembered as of World War II. Over
one hundred and fifty names are inscribed on the Honor Roll in St. Jerome's Church.
They are of young men of the parish who have been called and have volunteered their
services to their country in the present war. To date, June, 1944, one gold star, in
memory of Thomas Merritt Willett, has been placed on our service flag.
NOTRE DAME ACADEMY, COVINGTON, KENTUCKY
Notre Dame Academy, Covington, has been functioning as an educational institution
since 1876. In 1875 the Sisters of Notre Dame purchased a lot upon which was
erected a four-story building. Solemn dedication took place July 26, 1876. In Sep-
tember classes were opened for grade and high school students, with music and needle-
craft as private courses.
Within a short time, it was necessary to enlarge the building by the addition of east
and west wings, and by adding another story to the entire structure. In 1901 a new
chapel building was erected. An adjoining residence was purchased in 1921, and con-
verted into a music studio.
From an enrollment of sixty pupils, including grades and high school, the registra-
tion steadily increased. In 1937, the elementary grade department was discontinued in
order to devote the entire building to high school classes. The present enrollment, in
1943, is three hundred and eighty girls.
Notre Dame Academy was accredited by the State in 1923 and received an "A"
rating, which has been maintained to the present. In 1924, Notre Dame Academy
became a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and
has remained a fully accredited high school.
ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE
Covington, Kentucky
It was 1856, and leap year. More than that it was February twenty-ninth, when at
Nazareth, Kentucky, the Council of the Sisters of Charity met in special session to make
final deliberations on what was at the period of history, a momentous venture, a new
colony of Sisters would be sent out to found a schoql in the Northern Kentucky diocese
of Covington.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 697
Covington, originally known as "The Point" because of its location at the confluence
of the Ohio and Licking Rivers, had long outgrown its status of a mere trading post
in the wilderness, and was fast becoming a flourishing industrial settlement. It counted
in its population a goodly number of German and Irish immigrants eager to establish
homes in America, the "Land of Promise," and to give, in full reciprocation, all their
youthful vigor and enthusiasm to the beloved land of their adoption.
In testimony of the religious spirit of its growing population, Covington was a city of
churches. As early as 1833, it had been made the center of the newly formed Northern
Kentucky diocese with Most Reverend George Augustine Carrell, its first bishop. This
saintly prelate immediately interested himself in the spiritual and material welfare of
the people. Quite naturally, he felt the training of the young was his serious obligation
and he insisted that no matter at what sacrifice schools must be built and a Christian
education provided.
Animated by this spirit, Bishop Carrell, in 1855, petitioned Nazareth that the
Sisters "take charge of a pay and poor school in Covington." The terse minutes for
the Council meeting merely record the resolution together with the names of Sister
Clare Gardiner, who was appointed superior, and her five assistants, two of whom were
to teach in the "poor" school and the others at the "pay school."
The Cincinnati Commercial gave publicity to the event and after eulogizing the
work of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, went on to say, "The charitable services
of these Ladies will find a proper field in the growing and industrial population of
their new charge." The Cincinnati Telegraph and Advocate in its issue of January 26,
1856, quaintly and "respectfully solicits the kind countenance and aid of the benevo-
lent public of the sister cities" toward furnishing the house and school for the Sisters.
The generous response to the appeal was evidence of the esteem and welcome accorded
the newcomers.
The new school was established in a small two-story brick house on "The Commons,"
the present site at Seventh and Greenup Streets. At the request of Bishop Carrell, it
was given the title of Academy of Our Lady of La Salette after the famous French
shrine where the Blessed Virgin had appeared in 1840. Classes were organized im-
mediately and sixteen families were registered as patrons. The average tuition was one
dollar a month, often paid "in kind." The next year the enrollment had more than
doubled itself.
Interesting are the entries in the carefully kept records of those early days: "Mr. John
Handlcn donates a box of candles . . . often keeps the little community in milk, butter,
and eggs all month." "Mr. Murray donates vinegar." Five pair of shoes are invoiced
at a total of $5.50; a barrel of sugar is purchased for $14.90; even the opening of a
barrel of flour is recorded as an event of importance.
In short time the little six room school and convent, with its clean whitewashed in-
terior, had become far from adequate. There was the added disadvantage that the
Sisters did not own even the ground on which the school was located, and it was not
until 1886 that this was secured. Plans for a new building had long been in the making
and now the cornerstone was finally laid for what was then the latest in school buildings.
Immediately the number of pupils so increased that additional teachers had to be pro-
vided. By 1903, expansion again was necessary. A third story was added to the school
and a permanent convent at last supplied for the Sisters.
The story of La Salette is akin to that of other pioneers in the field of education.
The unbounded trust in Divine Providence instilled by Saint Vincent de Paul in his
first Daughters of Charity and received as a precious heritage by the Sisters of Charity
in the New World, gave them dauntless courage in the face of every obstacle; love of
10— Vol. II
698 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
God and of neighbor prompted whole-hearted response to every call for self-sacrifice.
Truly did the Sisters live their motto, "The charity of Christ urges us!"
But the history of La Salette would be incomplete were not some mention made of
those admirable women, administrators and teachers, whose influence has left a distinc-
tive impress on the school's aims and quality of instruction, for, under the Providence
of God, it is to their ability, generosity, and self-sacrifice that the institution owes its
growth and opportunity for service. Notable among them are: Sister Clare Gardiner,
the pioneer superior; Mother Helena Tormey and Mother Cleophas Mills, both of
whom later became Superior General at Nazareth; and Sister Lauretta Meagher, who
was the last living Civil War nurse and whose life would make rich copy for the bio-
grapher. It was she who directed the school during a period of over thirty years, from
1879 to 1912.
La Salette, in the century of rapid and manifold changes in education has kept abreast
of each advance; yet, conservatively, she has clung to the permanent in ideals and
principles. The weighted curriculum of earlier days offers an interesting comparison to
the present clearly organized courses of studies, classical, commercial, and homemaking,
each of which is supplemented by speech; music, instrumental and vocal; and physical
education.
In 1920, La Salette merited affiliation with the Catholic University of America; in
1923, the school was accredited by the State of Kentucky; and, in 1930, by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
We have seen how in rapid stages, the Academy outgrew its humble foundations.
In 1939 came the crowning achievement when the modern fireproof high school was
completed. It contains all that is latest and best in classrooms, library, science and
homemaking laboratories, gymnasium-auditorium, lunchroom, and recreation hall.
For close upon a century, La Salette has served the community of Covington in the
field of education. In times of public distress, she has hastened at the call of charity
to relieve the suffering and the afflicted. But it is not in this, nor is it in her excep-
tional educational opportunities that she takes just pride; rather her joy is in the
fruit of her labor, the sterling young women who, through the years, have confidently
gone forth from her prepared to occupy intelligently and with becoming grace an hon-
orable place in Christian society, be that place the professions, business, or woman's
grandest career, the home.
ACADEMY NOTRE DAME OF PROVIDENCE
Academy Notre Dame of Providence, a five-story brick ediface in Renaissance style,
was erected at Sixth and Linden Avenues, Newport, Kentucky, by the Sisters of Divine
Providence in September, 1903. The Academy was established with the approval of the
Right Reverend Camillus Paul Maes, D.D., then Bishop of Covington, who recognized
both the desirability of such a select educational institution in the newly opened resi-
dential district of eastern Newport and the inadequacy of the quarters of the original
school begun in 1899 at Mount Saint Martin's Convent, Newport, the first home of
the Sisters of Divine Providence in America.
Academy Notre Dame of Providence was built with vision. It is spacious and sur-
rounded with grounds laid out into park, lawns, and playground. From the beginning
it was equipped far in advance of the times. It has a chapel, an extensive reference
and a fiction library, chemistry laboratories, museum, specialized commercial, domestic
science, dress-making, and fancy-work departments, an art department and a music
department, a large study hall, capacious recreation halls, cafeteria, and an excellent
auditorium with stage and balcony.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 699
It opened as a day school in September, 1903 with an enrollment on the first day of
one hundred pupils, the number increasing thereafter year by year. The purpose of
the Academy, as the early prospectus states, is "to provide for girls and young women
a solid, practical, and Christian education and to develop in them that simplicity of
manner and delicacy of feeling characteristic of noble Christian womanhood." Boys
were admitted to the grades, however; and difference of religion was no obstacle to
entrance, attendance at classes in religion not being exacted of non-Catholic students.
The academic or high-school department offered then as now four courses: the Classi-
cal, the Scientific, the English, and the Commercial, the last now being limited to
elective classes. Modern languages were specially cultivated from the elementary
grades throughout the academic classes with the particular advantage of native teach-
ers. There were also a literary post-graduate course and a course in elocution. The
Academy is authorized to confer diplomas in music and elocution as well as in the
academic field.
Since October, 1905, Academy Notre Dame of Providence has been affiliated with the
University of Kentucky at Lexington. James K. Patterson, then the distinguished and
learned president of the University of Kentucky, made the final inspection in person.
At the close of his visit he remarked: "When I see all this, it almost makes me regret
that I cannot go back forty years and begin all over again." In 1914 the Academy was
also affiliated with the Catholic University of America at Washington, D. C.
In September, 1929, the scholarly Bishop of Covington, the late Most Reverend Fran-
cis W. Howard, D.D., selected Academy Notre Dame of Providence as the Central
Catholic High School of Campbell County. The classes expanded so extensively as a
result that in June, 1934, the grade school was discontinued. The enrollment at the
present date, January, 1945, numbers 250 young girls who come from the various dio-
cesan and private grade schools in the vicinity. As Central Catholic High School the
Academy retains its title, Academy Notre Dame of Providence; it remains an institution
of the Sisters of Divine Providence whose members constitute its faculty.
THE SISTERS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF KENTUCKY
The Sisters of Divine Providence are the youngest of the communities of religious
women in Kentucky, the Congregation having made its American foundation at New-
port, Kentucky in the Diocese of Covington, in August, 1889. In 1888 the Right Rev-
erend Camillus Paul Maes, third bishop of Covington, Kentucky, in quest of teachers,
visited the Mother House of the Congregation of Divine Providence at St. Jean de
Bassel, Moselle, a flourishing educational institution founded in France in 1762 by the
Venerable John Martin Moye, the cause of whose beatification is now at Rome. The
request of Bishop Maes fulfilled the hopes of Reverend Mother Anna (d. 1908) that
the Sisters participate in the education of American youth and form a province of the
Congregation in the United States of America. The next year (1899) accordingly,
found in Covington, Kentucky, the three pioneers of the American foundation.
By October, 1899, these three, under the direction of Bishop Maes, purchased
and were established in the historic Colonel Jones mansion, crowning a hill on
the outskirts of Newport, Kentucky. Mt. St. Martin's, as the house and hill were soon
designated, became the first American Mother House, convent, and novitate of the
Congregation. There in November of that same year the first school, Mt. St. Martin's
Academy, was opened in what was originally the capacious carriage house. In the
following March the Sisters, whose number had been increased by other Sisters from
the Mother House in France, accepted their first parochial school.
In August, 1903, the new Academy Notre Dame of Providence, at East Sixth and
700 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Linden Avenue, Newport, Kentucky, was dedicated. Superseding Mt. St. Martin's
Academy, it was an instant success. It carried a full college preparatory course as well
as a commercial course, and specialized in music, the arts, and domestic science. In
1934 the Academy closed its elementary and grammar school grades to become, under
the patronage of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Francis W. Howard, D.D., Bishop
of Covington, the Central High School for Catholic Girls in Campbell County. Acade-
my Notre Dame of Providence was affiliated with the University of Kentucky in Oc-
tober, 1905, and with the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C, in 1915.
St. Anne Convent, the present Mother House and novitiate of the Congregation in
the United States, was completed in 1919 at Melbourne, Kentucky, about eight miles
from Newport. St. Anne's was erected on a splendid piece of property of 187 acres,
the generous gift of the late Mr. and Mrs. Peter O'Shaugnessy of Newport, Kentucky.
The training school of the Sisters was transferred here from Mt. St. Martin's; a house
for aged and infirm was built, and in 1931 the magnificent Sacred Heart Chapel
was erected.
Recruited by American girls and assisted by additional numbers from abroad, from
the very first year in America the Sisters of Divine Providence assumed charge of
parish schools in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and Maryland. Be-
sides Academy Notre Dame of Providence, they opened other select academies and
private and parochial high schools. They undertook homes for the aged in Baltimore,
Maryland, and at Staten Island; they have an Infant Asylum at Providence, Rhode
Island, a home for working girls at Mt. St. Martin's, Newport, Kentucky, and for
French immigrant girls in New York City.
Since 1890 they have participated in the Kentucky Mountain Mission work begun
by Bishop Maes and zealously promoted by the Most Reverend Francis W. Howard,
D.D., Bishop of Covington. In 1915 the Sisters of Divine Providence opened a sub-
stantial and beautiful academy and boarding school, St. Camillus Academy, at Cor-
bin, Kentucky, in the heart of the mountainous district. In August, 1920, they opened
St. Agatha Academy and boarding school at Winchester, Kentucky.
In 1928 under the auspices of the Most Reverend Francis W. Howard, the Sisters
of Divine Providence, with the other teaching communities of the Diocese of Coving-
ton, founded Villa Madonna College at Covington, Kentucky. The College is a
senior liberal arts college, conferring the A.B. degree and also having a department of
teacher training equipping the student for state certification in elementary or secondary
school teaching.
This year, September, 1943, the Sisters of Divine Providence are staffing two paro-
chial schools for negroes in the Diocese of Covington.
THE URSULINES OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
Of the many Convents of Ursulines in the United States, the largest independent
House is that which has its Motherhouse and Novitiate in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Ursuline Order was founded by Saint Angela Merici in 1535 in Brescia, Italy,
when it spread to Milan, Lyons, Paris, Wuertzburg, Straubing, and thence to Louis-
ville. In 1858, the Most Reverend Martin John Spalding, Bishop of Louisville, through
the agency of the Reverend Leander Streber, O.F.M., applied for Ursulines at Strau-
bing, Bavaria, to take charge of the newly-established parochial school of St. Martin.
In answer to the call, three nuns left Straubing on September 13, 1858, took passage
on the steamer "Ariel" (which twice barely escaped destruction — once from an ex-
plosion, and once from being struck by a Turkish man-of-war) landing in New York
in late October and arriving in Louisville on October 31, 1858. The Superior of the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 701
little band was Mother Mary Salesia Reitmeier, and her companions were Sister Mary
Pia and Sister Mary Miximilian.
On arriving in Louisville, the nuns were domiciled in a small, miserable frame house
consisting of two rooms and a garret, situated near St. Martin School on what is now
Shelby and Chestnut Street. In November they opened classes in St. Martin's parish
school with an enrollment of fifty pupils. During the long winter that followed, the
nuns suffered loneliness, heartache, and even want, but these heroic souls never looked
back. Their days were filled with works of mercy and their nights recorded long hours
spent in mastering the English language.
The principal end and aim of Ursulines being the education of young girls, Mother
Salesia decided to enlarge her sphere of activity by establishing a boarding school where
girls might receive both an elementary and high school education. Accordingly a two-
story brick building of about twenty rooms was built in 1859, which was to serve as a
convent for the Sisters and a temporary residence for boarders. It was called the
"Ursuline Convent of the Immaculate Conception." Six little boarders entered, and
Mother Pia was named Directress. Three more nuns came over from Straubing to assist.
Early in 1860 a novitiate was opened, and the first American girl to enter was Miss
Cecelia Schweri, later known as Sister Mary Leandra. She was joined by three young
ladies from Straubing and another American girl, and on September 8th, these five
young ladies received the habit of the Ursulines. The little Community now numbered
eleven. In order to give the girls who finished St. Martin's parochial school an oppor-
tunity of higher education, day pupils were now admitted to the Academy. Quarters
again became too small, and a dormitory and refectory were added for the boarders.
Ursuline Academy of the Immaculate Conception was well on its way when the Civil
War broke out. In 1862, food was scarce and expensive, the price of fuel rose, and the
Sisters were in great distress. Then Louisville was threatened with bombardment, which
caused such terror that the parents took their children home, and the boarding school
had to be closed. However, after a few weeks the danger passed and the pupils re-
turned.
When classes were resumed in September, 1863, boarders in great numbers enrolled
in the Academy, and the school from that time on continued to flourish. By an Act
of the Legislature of the State of Kentucky, on January 12, 1864, the Academy was
incorporated under the title of "Ursuline Society and Academy of Education," and
was empowered to confer the "usual academic degrees of a literary educational institu-
tion." At the graduation exercises which took place in 1867, the first graduate of Ursu-
line Academy, Miss Anna Kotter, received her crown and diploma. There were 125
pupils in the Academy during this year.
In 1867 the cornerstone of the present Chapel of the Immaculate Conception was
laid, but on account of bad weather the work had to be discontinued during the winter.
In the spring of 1868 the work was resumed. The walls had been completed and the
gable finished, when the cable fastened to the second beam gave way. The beam fell
backward and shattered the gable and the wall to a depth of about fifteen feet above
the ground; both side walls were badly damaged. After six weeks the debris was
cleared away and the rebuilding of the walls was begun. The chapel was completed
and dedicated on December 26, 1868. As a result of the shock sustained when the
walls of the chapel fell, Mother Salesia became seriously ill and died on June 25, 1868.
With her passing a great and remarkable life was ended — a life whose fine, true, and
elevated character impressed itself upon all with whom she came in contact. At the
death of the Foundress, the Community numbered thirty professed Sisters, six Novices
and five Postulants; and the nuns were conducting, besides the Academy, four parochial
702 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
schools — St. Martin's, St. Mary's, and St. Joseph's in Louisville, and Corpus Christi
School in Newport, Kentucky.
Mother Salesia was succeeded by Mother Martina Nichlas, a woman of rare ability,
whose administration, covering a period of thirteen years, was principally noted for
the extension of the Order, in and out of the State, in parochial school work. During
this period St. Peter's School and St. Vincent dePaul's School in Louisville, Sts. Peter
and Paul School in Cumberland, Maryland, and fifteen other small schools in Indiana and
Illinois were placed in charge of the Community. Later some of these schools were
transferred to other Orders.
On August 14, 1874, at the invitation of the Reverend Paul J. Volk of Daviess
County, Kentucky, five nuns were sent to the Green River Hills of Southwestern Ken-
tucky, fifteen miles from Owensboro, to open an academy for girls. On their arrival
they found a house not yet plastered, with no doors in the second floor, and no furniture.
Undismayed by hardship and the direst poverty, the nuns set to work, and as /soon
as the house was completed and the most necessary furnishings procured, they an-
nounced the opening of school. Five pupils enrolled at the beginning of the first year;
eleven at the beginning of the second year; and from year to year the number increased.
In 1880 the Charter of Incorporation was obtained, and Mount St. Joseph Ursuline
Academy was beginning an era of expansion. A noviatiate was opened in 1895, and
many young women from the neighboring counties entered to swell the ranks of the
Sisterhood; and in 1912 Mount St. Joseph became an independent Ursuline Mother-
house.
In 1876 a plot of about thirty-two acres of land, beautifully located on what is now
Lexington Road, was purchased with a view of establishing a boarding school in the
country. Four Sisters moved into the small brick house which stood on the farm, and
on October 4, 1877, they opened school. Five children came the first day; eight days
later there were seventeen, and by Christmas the number had increased to seventy-two.
This was the beginning of Sacred Heart Academy. The first pupils were day pupils
who came from the vicinity, but after two years boarders only were accepted. It func-
tioned as a boarding school until 1916, when day pupils were again admitted.
In 1887 the Ursuline Convent on Chestnut Street was no longer spacious enough
to accommodate the nuns, day pupils, and boarders; hence the boarders were transferred
to Sacred Heart Academy, and Ursuline Academy became exclusively a day school.
In 1888 the first Commencement of the Sacred Heart Academy was held on June 26.
Miss Sabina Orrick of Canton, Mississippi was the first graduate. In 1889, to accom-
modate the increased number of boarders, an addition was built to the original struc-
ture.
In September, 1894, the novitiate was transferred from the Motherhouse on Chestnut
Street to Sacred Heart Academy, as living in the country was more conducive to the
health of the young Sisters.
On December 28, 1897, sixteen nuns took charge of St. Joseph's Orphanage. There
were 122 children to be cared for at the time.
In 1900 the old convent on Chestnut Street was replaced by a new building which
was used as the Motherhouse until 1917. It was then given over to the exclusive use
of Ursuline Academy, and the Motherhouse transferred to the present site on Lexington
Road. Today Ursuline Academy stands as an historic witness of Ursuline missionary
zeal, the fruitfulness of which is still evident in the educational aims and methods of
the institution.
The continuous growth of Sacred Heart Academy on Lexington Road called for
new buildings, and in 1903 the cornerstone of a large three-story edifice was laid,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 703
and in May, 1904 it was dedicated. It was destroyed by fire in 1918. For a period
of six years one wing of the new Motherhouse (which had been completed and dedi-
cated the previous year) was taken over by the Academy and used until in May, 1926
the new Academy was ready for occupancy.
In the interval another building was erected, St. Ursula Hall, containing an audi-
torium, gymnasium, and class rooms, and in 1921, the Sacred Heart Junior College
and Normal School opened, principally to provide an opportunity for higher educa-
tion and professional training for the young members of the Community. Provision was
also made for observation and practice teaching in the Model School, which offers
young teachers in training an opportunity to prepare for the work of the Institute
under the direct supervision of critic teachers. The latest building erected on the campus
is Brescia Hall, the science building, the first unit of a college building project.
In 1938 Ursuline College, a Liberal Arts Senior College for the higher education
of women, in which vocational training is not disregarded, absorbed and superseded the
Junior College. The College is affiliated with the Catholic University of America, and
is approved by or has membership in the National Catholic Educational Association,
Kentucky Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the American Association of
Colleges, the Association of Southern Colleges for Women, the American Association
of Collegiate Registrars, the Catholic Literary Association, and has filed application
for membership as a senior college in the Southern Association of Colleges, while re-
taining the Junior college membership held since 1933. The College is fully recognized
by the State Department of Education and is empowered to issue Teachers' Certifi-
cates on both elementary and secondary level.
As the years passed and the Community grew in numbers, new schools were opened
in the various States. At present the Community numbers 467 professed nuns, 15
novices, and 8 postulants, and is in charge of the following schools; with a total enroll-
ment of a little more than eleven thousand pupils:
St. Martin's School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1858; St. Joseph's School, Louis-
ville, Kentucky, since 1867; St. Peter's School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1868; Sts.
Peter and Paul School, Cumberland, Maryland, since 1870; St. Mary's School, Madison,
Indiana, since 1871; St. Vincent de Paul's School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1881; St.
Boniface School, Evansville, Indiana, since 1881; Holy Trinity School, St. Matthews,
Kentucky, since 1883; St. Joseph's Orphanage, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1897; St.
Boniface School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1898; St. Anthony School, Louisville,
Kentucky, since 1899; St. George School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1899; St. Helen's
School, Shively, Kentucky, since 1902; St. Mary's School, Cumberland, Maryland, since
1903; St. Elizabeth's School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1906; St. Leo's School, Louis-
ville, Kentucky, since 1906; St. Therese School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1907; St.
Ann's School, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1907; St. Peter Claver Colored School,
Louisville, Kentucky, since 1908; St. Francis Assisi School, Louisville, Kentucky, since
1911; St. Augustine's School, New Straitsville, Ohio, since 1915; St. Francis de Sales
School, Morgantown, West Virginia, since 1915; Sacred Heart School, Conemaugh,
Pennsylvania, since 1915; St. Patrick School, Sidney, Nebraska, since 1916; St. Patrick
School, North Platte, Nebraska, since 1916; Blessed Sacrament School, Omaha, Ne-
braska, since 1920; St. Michael School, Madison, Indiana, since 1922; St. Rita School,
Okolona, Kentucky, since 1928; St. Peter's School, Columbia, South Carolina, since
1936; St. Joseph's School, O'Connor, Nebraska, since 1937; School of the Holy Spirit,
Louisville, Kentucky, since 1937.
High Schools and Academies:
Ursuline Academy, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1859; Ursuline Academy, Cumber-
704 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
land, Maryland, since 1891; Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, Kentucky, since 1877;
St. Francis de Sales High School, Morgantown, West Virginia, since 1916; St. Pat-
rick's Academy, Sidney, Nebraska, since 1916; St. Patrick's High School, North Platte,
Nebraska, since 1916; Ursuline High School, Columbia, South Carolina, since 1937;
St. Joseph's Academy, O'Connor, Nebraska, since 1937.
Senior College:
Ursuline College, since 1938.
ST. CATHERINE ACADEMY, LEXINGTON
Among the Religious of the West, the name of Mother Catherine Spalding must
long stand pre-eminent. She was endowed with attributes of mind that fitted her
beyond others for leadership. In purpose she was straightforward. She was con-
ciliatory in speech and manner. She discovered quickly and acted promptly. She
sympathized deeply with poverty and suffering and it was the comfort of her life to
be able to relieve the one and assuage the other. It is impossible that one in her po-
sition, so qualified, should not be able to command willing support. This she did from
the beginning to the end of her career. She lived to see the unpromising seedling she
had helped to plant, and to which her tender care was given at every stage of its
growth, lifting its branches in the free air of heaven and scattering its fruits broadcast
for the refreshment of the multitudes.
Catherine Spalding was born in Maryland, December 23, 1793. She and her sister,
Ann, having early lost their parents, were cared for by their aunt, Mrs. Thomas Elder,
of the Cox Creek settlement. At the age of nineteen, she left her comfortable home
to become the companion of the two young women who had preceded her to Nazareth,
with the avowed purpose of devoting themselves to the Religious life and its unselfish
pursuits. By the suffrages of her associates, she was placed at the head of the com-
munity for eight terms of three years each.
In April, 1823, Mother Catherine, having been replaced at the Mother House by
Mother Agnes Higdon, went with three other sisters to White Sulphur, Scott County,
to establish a school on a farm given for that purpose by Mr. James Gough. This
gift was made on condition that the donor should receive a small annuity during the
remainder of his life. The transaction really amounted to a purchase as Mr. Gough
lived a long time and the annuity was paid to the last.
The house was named St. Catherine's in honor of Mother Catherine's patroness, St.
Catherine of Siena, in compliance with the desires of Bishop Flaget and Bishop David.
By a coincidence the Nazarenes started for their new field of labor on the feast of St.
Catherine of Siena. These sisters carried with them a letter from Bishop Flaget, Bishop
of Bardstown, to Father Chabrat of White Sulphur.
The little colony in Scott County met with many hardships. The sisters used to
tell of many trying circumstances connected with this hard and seemingly fruitless
mission. Journeys back and forth to Nazareth had to be made on horseback or in a
private carriage. It took about three days to make this trip; the nights were spent in
farmhouses on the way. They never failed to take advantage of the hospitality of
Mrs. Bostows, an English lady living at Frankfort. She had two daughters who were
educated at Nazareth and she was always glad to harbor the sisters when they passed
through Kentucky's Capitol.
The school at White Sulphur was never very prosperous; the congregation was scat-
tered, the pupils few; hence it was decided to move the school to a more propitious lo-
cation. The farm in Scott County was sold and the proceeds helped to purchase prop-
erty on Limestone Street, in Lexington, eighteen miles distant. Thus after the first decade
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 705
of the history of St. Catherine's had been told at White Sulphur, the sisters, acting
under the guidance of Father Reynolds, Nazareth's new Ecclesiastical Superior, took
up work in the new field November 28, 1833.
Sister Ann Spalding, the youngest sister of Mother Catherine, was at that time in
charge of the school. Sisters Seraphine, Clementia, Pelagia, Christine and Claudia-
labored with her.
The Lexington property was conveyed by deed dated May 4, 1834, from James
Logue to the Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, in favor of Nazareth Literary and
Benevolent Institution. It extended from Limestone Street to Walnut, having a depth
of six hundred feet and frontage of one hundred and twenty feet, and costs four
thousand dollars. On the Limestone side there was a small frame house opening on
the street. Back of it was Mr. Logue's residence, the first brick house in Lexington.
There were four rooms above and four below. The rooms on the first floor were
utilized as parlor, music room, girls' refectory and sisters' refectory; the last named
served also as community room. On the second floor a room was fitted out as a
chapel and used until Saint Peter's Church was built. The other rooms were dormi-
tories. Soon after the sisters' arrival, the frame building at the front was moved to
the rear and a brick house was repaired and enlarged for the class rooms.
All the buildings on the new property were in a delapidated condition, and it took
time, labor and expense to put the while in a becoming state. The sisters thought the
tribulations of Scott County were to be renewed, but their fears were unfounded, and
their school was immediately patronized. Lexington was then growing rapidly; rail-
roads and other improvements were a means of greatly increasing the population
of the sparsely settled city.
In 1837 the sisters allowed St. Peter's Church to be built on a portion of their lot.
Rev. E. McMahon, pastor at the time, supervised its erection. Then Father McMahon
bought the Walnut Street end of the sisters' property for one thousand dollars. On it
was a two-story brick house which was the priest's residence until St. Paul's Church
was built. This house became the girls' parochial school after it had been purchased
back by Nazareth from Father Becker on the sixth day of November, 1866. This old
school had been built partly from the brick which once composed of the old Catholic
Chapel in which the celebrated Father Baden officiated for so many years.
A remarkable incident took place at St. Peter's Church on Sunday, August 13,
1854. Just a few minutes after the congregation had retired from the building, the
entire ceiling fell to the floor beneath, flattening everything to its level, with the single
exception of a statue of Our Lady. This statue was later enshrined on the Academy
grounds.
On the 16th of August, 1845, Nazareth gave permission to build. Sister Ann Spald-
ing was still in charge of St. Catherine's and superintended the work. It was not com-
pleted when she died, May 15, 1848, and Sister Isabella Drury, who replaced her the
following August, saw it finished.
The death of Sister Ann, who for fifteen years had been the guiding spirit of St.
Catherine's was tragic. In those days the sisters had some women slaves working about
the house. Sister Ann unwittingly offended one of these slaves and was poisoned by
her. The fatal dose was administered by mixing poison with some seemingly fine
butter milk. Sister Ann died very suddenly and by some accident it was discovered
that she had been poisoned. The sisters had the young slave sent south, but had
nothing further done to her.
Sister Ann was buried in the old Catholic graveyard on Winchester Street, now
706 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Third Street, but the remains were afterward removed to our beloved "God's Acre"
at Nazareth.
Among the pioneers, Sister Ellen O'Connell deserves a distinguished place. After
holding many important offices at Nazareth, she was transferred to St. Catherine's
where she accomplished much in a few years, and where she died in 1841.
St. Catherine's has experienced seasons of depression and of prosperity. Her early
years were marked with trials of various kinds, not the least of which was her struggle
with prejudice; but Providence took care of her and raised up chivalrous men who
nobly defended her cause. Their sentiments are voiced in an editorial of the time
which says: "There is nothing more calculated to raise us to an eminence than nurseries
of learning of this kind. Many of my acquaintances have been under the sisters' tute-
lage; and I have found the sisters affable, agreeable, intelligent, polite, though quite
plain, unassuming and unaffected in their dress and manner."
The work begun by Mother Catherine and Sister Ann was continued by worthy
successors — Mother Frances, Sister Isabella, Sister Gabriella and Sister Mary. In 1864
Sister Lucy was placed in charge. This proved an event of importance not only to St.
Catherine's, but to the people of Lexington as well.
Just before her arrival, a destructive fire burned the whole third story of the academy
and damaged much of the second. The building was saved from utter destruction by
the bravery of the fire department and the prompt and kind assistance of the men of
Lexington. Sister Lucy's first labor at St. Catherine's was to repair the damage as
soon as possible. The sisters had been given shelter in the homes of kind friends, but
soon returned to resume their school work. This siege of hardship was followed by a
period of prosperity — the number of students increased steadily and St. Catherine's soon
reached a high degree of efficiency.
On May 18, 1874, Sister Lucy left St. Catherine's for the new Saints Mary and
Elizabeth Hospital in Louisville. The duties of superior were then assumed by Sister
Cleophas who had spent the first fourteen years of her religious life as music teacher
at St. Catherine's. Sister Lucy's absence was of short duration, for in a few years she
was again at St. Catherine's.
The commodious music hall and auditorium, which stands in the rear of the academy,
may be justly styled a monument to the memory of Sister Lucy. The last two years
of her life were spent in planning and erecting this building. Sister Lucy died sud-
denly May 11, 1892, before she saw the first commencement exercises in the new Saints
Mary and Joseph Hall.
Many remember with affectionate gratitude the noble self-sacrificing character of
Sister Lucy and many owe to her not only their accomplishments in education, but also
their training in character and manners. Sister Lucy did much for the moral uplift
and mental advancement of the pupils of Catherine's. She was not only capable and
accomplished, but pious and solidly learned. During her twenty-eight years at St.
Catherine's the institution prospered materially as well as intellectually, and even today
her name is a household word in many non-Catholic as well as Catholic homes of
the city.
Mother Cleophas was a second time Sister Lucy's successor, having been at Nazareth
in the meantime filling the office of Mother Superior. After five years she was re-
called to Nazareth to resume the duties of Mother Superior. It is to good Mother
Cleophas that we owe the privilege of having our dear Lord in the house with us.
She had the parlor transformed into a chapel, calling it Saint Lucy's after the patron
saint of the late beloved superior.
Reluctant as Religious are to receive any publicity, certain ones have, by long service,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 707
become ^identified with certain schools. A sketch of St. Catherine's would hardly be
complete without mention of some individuals who have given the best years of their
lives to its upbuilding and maintenance. Prominent among these are Sister Lauretta,
Sister Miriam, Sister Johanna, Sister Salesia, Sister Wilhelmina, Sister Christine, Sister
Agnita and Sister Alma. The last named has spent her entire Religious life in Lex-
ington and her diligence in the office of Sacristan has become almost proverbial. Sisters
Francina, Ambrosia, and Wilhelmina taught at St. John's Parochial School. Sister
Anita came to St. Catherine's in 1872. Such a true mother was she to the little ones
under her care that a whole lifetime has not been able to obliterate her memory from
those whose early years she trained. After nearly twenty years the voice of obedience
called her to other fields. Some one asked her on the morning of her departure,
"Sister, have you had your breakfast?" "I really do not know," was her forced reply.
Indeed her bodily needs were all forgotten in her deep grief of heart.
Saint Paul's Parochial School, adjoining Saint Paul's Church, was for the boys of
the parish and was taught by lay teachers. These except a professor for the older boys,
were replaced in September, 1887, by Sisters Mercedes, Hilda and Geraldine. Thus
the number of Sisters at Catherine's was increased to fifteen, and in the year 1888, to
seventeen, by opening a school on Jefferson Street for the colored children, Saint Peter
Claver's School. Sister Ambrosia was in charge of this school, assisted by Sister Mary
dePazzi. For more than twenty-five years Sister Ambrosia labored among the colored
people of Lexington. She effected much good. Among those whose influence at St.
Catherine's will be felt for many a day is Sister Mary George, who is still in charge
of the primary department, after thirty-five years of service. The names of Sisters
Kostka, Susanna and Mechtildes also will long be remembered. To the interest and
activity of Sister Salesia and Sister Mary Benita is due the establishment of the
Alumnae.
St. Peter's Parochial School was opened in 1915 with three Sisters and a lay teacher.
During its short existence it has prospered and each year has increased its attendance
and efficiency.
For the last quarter of the century affairs at St. Catherine's have been directed by
Sister Ligouri, Sister Mary Vincent, Sister Evangelista, Sister Teresina, Sister Imelda
and Sister Constance. Under the guidance of these superiors many improvements have
been made.
In 1895, Nazareth granted St. Catherine's the privilege of conferring high school
diplomas, recognized by the State. In 1918 the academy was affiliated with the State
University of Kentucky. Standardized methods, up-to-date equipment and carefully
planned school rooms have enabled St. Catherine's to keep pace with the times.
Among her loyal friends the academy gratefully numbers Major Falconer, who,
during many years so generously rendered valuable aid to the growing institution. An
honored guest at the commencements since '64, he has lent material as well as moral
support to these exercises by sending a decorator each year to help to beautify the hall
and stage whence St. Catherine's daughters entered Life's school.
St. Catherine's also owes a deep debt of gratitude to Dr. R. C. Falconer, who has,
for over a quarter of a century, given his professional services, not only gratuitously
but unsparingly, promptly responding to every call, whether by day or night, that might
be requested.
Since education is the battlefield of the present day, Saint Catherine's Academy con-
tinues its untiring work in this battlefield. It is the objective of this institution to
turn out pupils with some self knowledge, some energy and some purpose.
The preparation and development of the faculty receives first consideration. Ex-
708 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
cellent specialized courses are offered. The Academy is affiliated with the State Uni-
versity and is a member of the Southern Association with an "A" rating.
To perfect discipline of mind and the power of steady application, material expansion
is now going on. Improvements in painting, heating, ventilation, lighting have received
special attention. Large, airy rooms are being annexed in the rear providing a desirable
location for a recreation hall, chemistry laboratory, class and music room.
The Music Deparement is second to none. Saint Catherine's Orchestra is widely
known; music students have received recognition by partaking in the McDowell Club
programs. The gratifying results of the various musical contests at the University, in
violin, harp, piano and wind instruments, as well as the high rating received in Vocal
and Glee Club selections assures the general public that S. C. A's success is an end
proposed and attained.
In order to improve speaking abilities, as well as to give poise and confidence, Speech
Classes are daily conducted. Competitions in Oratory and Debates are gratifying,
besides giving to the students something completed or accomplished in the best sense.
Saint Catherine's Cafeteria is an asset to the Institution as has been verified by
Government inspectors. Hot dinners are carefully planned and served to some 270
pupils, thus affording them the opportunity of enjoying a real meal at a minimum
cost.
THE BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF COVINGTON
The Benedictine Sisters of Covington, Kentucky, trace their origin to the first foun-
dation in America made by the Benedictine Sisters of the Cassinese Congregation.
Seven years after the foundation of the first convent of Benedictine Sisters in Ameri-
ca, at the request of Bishop Carroll, the first Bishop of Covington, four Sisters in-
cluding Reverend Mother Alexia, the Superioress, were sent from Saint Benedict Convent
in Erie, Pennsylvania, to open a school in Saint Joseph parish, Covington. This was
in 1859.
Although the little foundation encountered poverty, difficulties, and hardships in-
numerable, the sacrifices and sufferings of these pioneer Sisters were rewarded by the
encouragement and financial assistance of friends and benefactors so that, in 1862,
they were able to erect a small convent, which was subsequently enlarged to meet the
needs of the growing commnuity. In the Providence of God, the first postulant to
seek admission to the Order, Helen Saelinger, was destined to become the second Mother
Superior, Reverend Mother Walburga. To date the Order has been governed by only
five Mother Superiors, members now number one hundred and ninety.
The small beginning made in 1859 bore such fruit that from the Covington Mother
House were established three other convents, in Indiana, Louisiana, and Alabama, which
when they became self-sustaining, were incorporated as independent establishments.
After the erection of a convent in 1862, the Sisters opened Saint Walburg Academy
in Covington, which continued in existence until 1931, when the need of the academy
building for other purposes necessitated its closing.
The continued expansion of the Order enabled the Sisters, in 1907, to erect a board-
ing school, Villa Madonna Academy, on a large tract of land six miles from Covington.
Later the Mother House was transferred to Villa Madonna, and in 1937 a separate
Mother House was erected on adjoining property.
One of the early charges of the community was the care of Saint John Orphanage,
which it was asked to undertake in 1877, by the Society for the Protection of Orphans,
and which is still under its care.
In 1921, the Benedictine Sisters opened Villa Madonna College, which they conducted
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 709
successfully for seven years. In 1928, the need arising for a more central location, it
was transferred to Covington and has since operated as a diocesan college under the
joint direction of the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Sisters of Divine Providence, and
the Benedictine Sisters.
Besides Villa Madonna Academy, a boarding and day school, which the Benedictine
Sisters conduct, they are also in charge of the following parochial schools:
Holy Cross Elementary and High School, Latonia, Kentucky; Saint Benedict Elemen-
tary and High School, Covington, Kentucky; Saint Henry Elementary and High School,
Erlanger, Kentucky; Saint James Elementary and High School, Brooksville, Kentucky;
Blessed Sacrament Elementary School, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky; Saint Joseph Elemen-
tary School, Covington, Kentucky; Saint John Orphanage Elementary School, Fort
Mitchell, Kentucky; Holy Guardian Angels Elementary School, Sanfordtown, Ken-
tucky; Saint Anthony Elementary School, Forest Hills, Kentucky; Saint Joseph Ele-
mentary School, Crescent Springs, Kentucky; Saint Paul Elementary School, Florence,
Kentucky; Saint Therese Elementary School, Southgate, Kentucky.
NAZARETH COLLEGE, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
The Liberal Arts College conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Ken-
tucky, and located at Fourth and Breckinridge Streets in Louisville has presented many
changes, even exteriorly, since its inception on October 4, 1920. Then it was a fine
old mansion about fifty years old with imposing white stone front and wrought metal
balustrades, and an elegant interior of carved walnut, imported wall coverings and
Venetian etched glass, crystal chandeliers and huge mirrors. In 1931 a three-story wing
was added to provide additional library and laboratory facilities and an assembly hall.
In 1933 two adjacent buildings were purchased for dormitories, and named Catherine
Spalding and Flaget in honor of the Founder and the promoter of the Nazareth Con-
gregation of Sisters of Charity. In 1938 a gymnasium-auditorium was erected. Fire
destroyed Flaget Hall in December, 1938, and necessitated extensive changes; plans for
two new buildings were drawn in 1940. The first of these was completed in June, 1941,
and includes living quarters for thirty-five Faculty members, a cafeteria, laboratories
and class rooms for the home economics department, and a central heating plant. What
is now the administration building was completed in June, 1942. It has offices for the
Dean, the Treasurer, and the Registrar, parlors and other social rooms, ten new class-
rooms, laboratories for biology, physics, and psychology, and science lecture halls.
Three of the laboratories vacated have been renovated and added to the chemistry
department. The former administrative offices have become part of the library. Ex-
ternally, the fine old residence has been replaced by a group of impressive red brick
buildings trimmed in white sandstone; the style is Tudor-Gothic.
Mother Rose Meagher founded Nazareth College; she received loyal assistance from
a group of Louisville ladies, among whom Mrs. R. I. Nugent, Mrs. Florence Busch-
meyer and Mrs. Eliza Enos were prominent. The work of these ladies is being con-
tinued today by the Nazareth College Guild, founded in the fall of 1927. Mrs. Louis
J. Hollenbach is President of the Guild. Mother Mary Catharine Malone was the
first President of the College and was succeeded in 1936 by Sister Mary Anastasia
Coady, the present incumbent. Sister Dula Hogan was Dean for the first four years,
Sister Berenice Greenwell from 1924 to 1932, Sister Mary Anastasia Coady from
1932 to 1936, and Sister Mary Ramona Mattingly from 1936 to 1942. Because this
article deals with Catholic educational institutions in Kentucky, conducted by the Sisters
of Charity of Nazareth, it should note that Sister Berenice's dissertation for her Doctor's
degree was Nazareth's Contribution to Education (1812-1933), and Sister Mary Ra-
710 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
mona's was The Catholic Church on the Kentucky Frontier (1785-1812). Sister Charles
Mary Morrison, appointed Dean on August 15, 1942, had been since 1925 head of the
mathematics department and since 1926 Registrar at Nazareth College. In both these
positions she exhibited extraordinary administrative ability and won a wide circle of
friends for herself and for the College. She was born in Hyde Park, a suburb of
Boston, Massachusetts, July 19, 1895, entered the Congregation of the Sisters of
Charity of Nazareth in 1916, received her A.B. at Fordham University, New York
in 1922, her M.A. at Fordham University, New York, in 1925, and her Ph.D. at
Catholic University, Washington, in 1931.
The original Faculty consisted of Sister Mary Eunice Raisin, Sister Mary Adeline
O'Leary and Sister Mary Alicia Meyer. Early in the first year, 1920-1921, Sister Mary
Edwin Fennessey joined the teaching staff. In 1941-1942 the Faculty numbered forty-
five, among whom were four M.D's, one J. C. L., and sixteen Ph.D's. In September
1942, the Faculty was increased by three additional Ph.D's. Nearly all the rest of the
Faculty hold Master's degrees.
On October 4, 1920, the enrollment at Nazareth College was seven, representing
Kentucky, Indiana, and Arkansas. October 18, 1920, afternoon and evening classes were
begun for part-time students, and by the end of the year the enrollment was fifty-five.
In 1935 six leading hospitals — General Hospital, Norton Memorial Infirmary, St. Joseph
Infirmary, Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital, St. Anthony's Hospital and the Jewish
Hospital — registered their student nurses for courses in biology, chemistry, dietetics,
English, philosophy, psychology, sociology and religion. The total enrollment during
1941-1942 was six hundred and seventy-two.
The first curriculum included English, French, Latin, Spanish, chemistry, mathe-
matics, and religion, all except French and Spanish obligatory. Today there are nine
major Departments: Education, Fine Arts, Home Economics, Languages, Mathematics,
Philosophy and Psychology, Religion, Science, and Social Science, and twenty-seven
distinct branches; the Language Department, for instance, includes English, Latin,
Greek, French, German, Italian, and Spanish; the Science Department includes chem-
istry, physics, botany, and zoology. The four-year curriculum now offered leads to
the degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Medical
Technology, Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, Bachelor of Science in Educa-
tion, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education.
Students of the College, upon completion of the required conditions, are entitled to
Teachers' Certificates from the Kentucky State Department of Education. Presenta-
tion Academy, located on the campus, serves as a laboratory school for teacher training.
Degrees were granted for the first time in June, 1924. The six graduates almost im-
mediately organized the Nazareth College Alumna which now has a membership of
over five hundred.
Nazareth College was accredited by the Kentucky State Department of Education in
April, 1925, and became a member of the Association of Kentucky Colleges and Uni-
versities in December of the same year. It was affiliated with the Catholic University of
America in February, 1926, and became a member of the Catholic Educational Asso-
ciation in June, 1926. The College has been a member of the Southern Association of
Colleges for Women since December, 1928, and of the Association of American Col-
leges since January, 1929. It was approved by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools in April, 1938.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 711
MOUNT ST. JOSEPH COLLEGE AND ACADEMY
Maple Mount, Kentucky
Mount St. Joseph Ursuline College and Academy, Maple Mount, Kentucky, situated
fifteen miles southwest of Owensboro, the metropolis of Daviess County, is under the
direction of the Ursuline Nuns who bear the same standards of Christian education*
today as their great patroness St. Ursula bore centuries ago. St. Ursula was teacher
of innumerable young women of the sixth century, who with her young followers sur-
rendered her life in defense of Christian principles. The Ursulines who have been re-
nowned as educators of youth for more than four hundred years, trace their lineage
back to the Society of St. Angela in 1535. In her admiration and devotion to St.
Ursula, St. Angela chose St. Ursula as the patroness of her Order, thus calling her
band Ursulines.
The history of Mount St. Joseph College and Academy goes back to its lowly
origin in 1862, when a school was opened on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25,
by the Rev. Ivo Schacht, first resident pastor of St. Alphonsus Church. Father Schacht
and his parishioners constructed a log house, 50x20, to serve as the school building.
Two lay teachers were employed for the first year. The following September four
Sisters from the Motherhouse of Loretto, Nerincks, Kentucky, came in response to
Father Schacht's appeal for teachers who consecrate their lives to the Catholic training
of youth. They named their home St. Joseph Academy, and in October began their
mission of labor and love with an encouraging number of pupils. Records of the year
1870 show an enrollment of thirty-seven. About three o'clock on a severe winter morn-
ing of December, 1870, the Academy burned. For four years the mount on which the
Academy stood lay desolate in a veritable forest of the Green River hills and valleys
in Western Kentucky.
Mount St. Joseph Ursuline Motherhouse, College and Academy had its beginning
in 1874 when the third pastor of St. Alphonsus Church, the Rev. Paul Joseph Volk
laid the foundation of another Academy just in front of the ruins of "old St. Joseph's."
Unlike the log structure of 1862, Father Volk and his co-workers erected a three-story
brick building at the cost of charity and sacrifice, in a location destined to become a
"place for prayer, a place for study, and a place for happiness," as described by Bishop
McCloskey. Father Volk applied to the Bishop of Louisville for Sisters to open the
school which was also to serve as a boarding school for young women. The Right Rev.
William George McCloskey proposed the Ursulines of Louisville.
On August 12, 1874, five Ursuline Nuns, Mother Pia, Sister Johanna, Sister Xavier,
Sister Margaret and Sister Martina of the Ursuline Convent, Chestnut and Shelby
Streets, Louisville, responded to the proposal. After a voyage down the Ohio, they
landed in Owensboro; the fifteen mile ride in a spring wagon which followed was a
new experience for the pioneers who thought their journey would never end and prob-
ably lead into an impenetrable forest of wild beasts. The delayed announcement of
their coming made their unexpected arrival on the evening of August 14th a surprise
and a pleasure for Father Volk. They had expected the building to be completed,
but not one habitable room was to be found in the house; only the bare walls with
roof and a floor stood before them. Thus began the career of the Ursulines of Mount
St. Joseph. Though they were without an article of furniture, without provisions and
without pecuniary means, they had a rich fund of determination and unwavering trust
in God to promote the Christian education of youth. In September, the new Academy
was ready for the formal opening of the scholastic year. Five girls, constituting the
712 A S E S Q U I-C ENTENNIAL
first boarders of the Academy, matriculated to learn the truths of religion, music,
art, and the secular subjects, not excluding the domestic arts.
In the summer of 1875, Father Voile planted the maple grove which became re-
nowned for its beauty and gave Mount St. Joseph its popular title, "Maple Mount."
The second and third years were for the Nuns a repetition of the first in hardships,
suffering, and a real struggle for existence. In the fall of 1877, an increase of stu-
dents gave new courage and vigor to their efforts.
The summer of 1878 marks the beginning of a new epoch for Mount St. Joseph,
financially and educationally, when Sister Augustine Bloemer was appointed by her
Superior of the Ursuline Convent, Louisville, to labor at Mount St. Joseph. In the
glow of health and zeal Sister Augustine was a person capable in every way of build-
ing up the new Academy. Mother Augustine succeeded Mother Leandera as the third
Superior of Mount St. Joseph, and during her tenure of eight years 1882-1890,
Mother Augustine's name became synonymous with the growth of the institution.
However, the phenomenal success of Mother Augustine's arduous zeal and labor could
never have been accomplished without the financial aid of her father, Henry Bernard
Bloemer of Louisville, and the educational ability of her pupil, Leona Willett who
received the name Sister Aloysius when becoming a Nun in the Ursuline Convent,
Louisville. In the fall of 1882, Sister Aloysius Willett was appointed by her Mother
General of the Ursuline Motherhouse, Louisville, to take charge of the senior depart-
ment of Mount St. Joseph Academy. In cooperation with Father Volk, Mother Augus-
tine made plans for another building. During the year of 1882, Mother Augustine's
father was architect, artisan, and financial security in the erection of the three-story
brick building adjoining the first structure, and later in 1883, he purchased for the
benefit of the Institution, the adjoining farm of two hundred and fifty-seven acres
which supplied the fruit, vegetables and meat for the Academy. In 1884 Mr. and
Mrs. Henry B. Bloemer moved from their Louisville home to a residence on Mount
St. Joseph farm where they remained until 1890 when Mother Augustine was transferred
back to Louisville. At Mount St. Joseph, Mr. Bloemer was a constant benefactor, a
generous kind father who not only kept the buildings but also the farm in splendid
condition. A short time after returning to his Louisville home, Mr. Bloemer died.
When Mother Augustine was appointed Superior at Mount St. Joseph for a second
term, 1897, Mrs. Bloemer, through devotion to her only child, returned to Mount St.
Joseph. Like her husband, Mrs. Bloemer's zeal for souls and the Catholic training of
youth continued. Before her death, December 14, 1898, Mrs. Bloemer deeded the farm
of two hundred and fifty-seven acres to the Institution and erected another three-story
brick building now known as the Chaplain's residence.
Lives of hundreds of Christian mothers in happy family homes and Sisters in various
religious orders serving in the capacity of teacher, nurse, and care for the poor, etc.,
bear testimony to the fruit of the instructions given by Mother Augustine and her co-
workers at Mount St. Joseph. At the time of Mother Augustine's death in 1906, the
records show there was an average enrollment of more than one hundred students in
the Academy. Under the wise leadership and tutelage of Mother Augustine the aca-
demic course was organized in three divisions, primary, junior and senior. Annie John
son, daughter of Ben Johnson, Calhoun, Kentucky, was the first to complete the aca-
demic course, receiving graduation honors in 1880. During this year Mount St. Joseph
was incorporated by the State Legislature of Kentucky, and under the charter granted
was empowered "to confer academic diplomas and degrees as are conferred by the
Colleges of the United States." Though modest in its claims as an Academy which
today is classified as a four-year high school, the senior division of the Academy was,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 713
in reality offering the lower division of a college curriculum because its courses em-
braced branches in science, philosophy and literature which today are considered be-
longing only to a college curricula. The senior division also provided the teacher train-
ing curriculum which prepared the students to secure first class certificates to teach in
the public schools. Among those students was Leona Willett, one of the first pupils
from Union County, Kentucky to be enrolled in the Academy. After her graduation
in 1881, Miss Willett secured a first class State teacher's certificate to teach in her
home county. But the position of a public school teacher was not her ideal. On the
feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 1882, in the Ursuline Novitiate, Louisville, Leona
Willett invested in the holy habit of religion and receiving the name Sister Aloysius,
consecrated her life and extraordinary talents to the service of religion and the instruc-
tion of youth. The following November, Sister Aloysius Willett, pupil of Mother
Augustine, was appointed to teach and serve as Directress of education at her Alma
Mater with Mother Augustine Bloemer, Superior. Thus began the life of Sister Aloy-
sius Willett at Mount St. Joseph in the cause of Christian education for which she
labored approximately forty years. Of the pioneer Ursulines, Sister Aloysius receives
special mention because she was destined by Divine Providence to become the foundress
of Mount St. Joseph Ursuline Motherhouse.
From its very foundation in 1874 to the year 1895, under the leadership of such
superiors as Mother Pia Schonhofer, Mother Leandera Schweri, Mother Augustine
Bloemer and Mother Aloysius Willett, Mount St. Joseph Academy gradually prepared
essentials which made possible the establishment of an Ursuline Novitiate at Maple
Mount. At the time few besides Bishop McCloskey and Father Volk realized that in
the workings of Divine Providence Mount St. Joseph was educating her future Ursu-
line autonomous Community. In July, 1895, Rt. Rev. William G. McCloskey, D.D.,
as Bishop of Louisville Diocese, convinced of the necessity of a Novitiate to perpetuate
and vitalize the work of religion and religious education in southwestern Kentucky,
opened the Novitiate. The first five young women to become Novices in Mount St.
Joseph Ursuline Novitiate were: Mary Agnes O'Flynn of Owensboro, Sister Mary
Agnes; Teresa Jenkins of Union County, Sister Mary Ursula; Lelia Kohl of Sebree,
Kentucky, Sister Mary Angela; Mary Winters, Sister Mary Joseph; and Elizabeth
Harvey of Maryland, Sister Mary Clodilde. The first three mentioned received not
only their Catholic education at Mount St. Joseph, but also their novitiate training
under Mother Aloysius Willett, the first Mistress of Novices. Until her death in
1920, Mother Aloysius continued without intermission in the various offices of Direc-
tress of the Academy, Mistress of Novices and first Mother General of Mount St.
Joseph Ursuline Community.
The present prosperity and far reaching influence of Mount St. Joseph is to a great
extent due to the zeal and wisdom of Father Volk and Mother Aloysius who built
firmly the foundation of Mount St. Joseph Ursuline Community as well as that of
the College and the Academy. With Mother Aloysius, Mother Agnes O'Flynn served
as first Mother-Assistant, and Mother Angela Kohl, second Mother-Assistant.
Mother Agnes succeeded Mother Aloysius as Mother General of the Ursuline
Community in 1920. Under the leadership of Mother Agnes and her successors,
Mother Teresita Thompson, Mother Gonzaga Cotter, and Mother Teresita Thompson,
the present Mother General, Mount St. Joseph continued to grow and expand. With
Mother Teresita Thompson who is completing her fourth term of office — twelve years
as Mother General, the membership of the Community numbers approximately four
hundred Nuns caring for more than seven thousand youth in Mount St. Joseph Junior
College and Academy, and in fifty-two parochial schools, elementary and secondary.
11— Vol. II
714 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Forty- two of these schools are conducted in Kentucky; the others in Missouri, Nebraska
and New Mexico. Sacred Heart Academy, Waterflow, New Mexico, and St. Bernard
Academy, Nebraska City, Nebraska, are boarding schools for young women. This
does not include the Summer schools of catechetical instruction, began in 1923 and
continued annually after the regular school year, for children in the rural districts
of Kentucky and the other states.
For nearly seventy years, Mount St. Joseph has served as an educational institution.
Each year as accrediting agencies developed, the Academy was duly accredited as
Class A by the State Board of Education, the University of Kentucky, and by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, as well as being affiliated
with the Catholic University of America. The Academy continues to enroll annuallv
more than one hundred students, offering the college preparatory or four-year high
school curriculum including music, art, and the commercial subjects.
To meet the modern demands of a Catholic college education for women, the Junior
College curricula was added September, 1925, with an enrollment of sixty-two students.
During this scholastic year, the State Department of Education and the Committee on
Accredited Relations of the University of Kentucky fully accredited and admitted Mount
St. Joseph College with highest classification to the Class A Accredited Private Junior
College Institutions. In 1926 the College was admitted as member of the American
Association of Junior Colleges, and in 1932 as a member of the Southern Association
of Colleges for Women; and in the same year when the Kentucky Association of Col-
leges and Universities provided for junior college admission, Mount St. Joseph College
was admitted to membership in the association. Adjoining the campus is St. Alphonsus
School which serves as an elementary laboratory school in which the college students
pursuing the teacher training curriculum do their laboratory work in the various sub-
jects of the grades from the first to the eighth inclusive, under experienced Ursuline
Teachers with broad training and legally certified by the State Board of Education.
The official approval of the College by the accrediting agencies is a guaranteed recog-
nition of the high scholastic standards of the Institution enabling students to transfer
their sequence with advanced standing to the junior class in a leading senior college or
university, or technical school. Through reciprocal recognition accorded accredited in-
stitutions the teacher training curricular also meets the requirements of the Department
of Education of the various States. Teachers' Certificates are issued by the Department
of Education of the various States on a basis of transcripts from Mount St. Joseph
Junior College showing the completion of a two-year curriculum including courses speci-
fied by the regulations of the respective States.
Since 1928 the annual enrollment in the college including the six to twelve weeks
summer sessions averages from one hundred fifty to two hundred students from various
parts of the United States and Puerto Rico. The great majority of students completing
the required curriculum are now successfully laboring as homemakers, teachers, nurses,
social service workers, librarians, laboratory technicians, secretaries and accountants,
public health workers in various parts of the world.
Mount St. Joseph, no longer isolated as in its lowly beginning, is situated on paved
highways 54 and 56, only a twenty minute drive from Owensboro, and one hour from
Evansville, Indiana. The Owensboro-Princeton Bus Line passes Mount St. Joseph
daily in its two round trips between Owensboro and Princeton; to this bus line con-
nections may be made with the Louisville-Nashville and the Illinois Central Railroads
enroute to distant places. Mail facilities were through the first U. S. Post Office, St.
Joseph, established in 1886, adjoining the campus, until mail circulation was sufficient
to secure the establishment of a U. S. Post Office on the campus in 1934, bearing the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 715
title "Maple Mount." In a delightful room centrally located on the campus, Maple
Mount U. S. Post Office now serves two daily mails coming through Owensboro from
all parts of the world.
Through the facilities of modern communication material growth rapidly developed.
The three-story structure of 1874, the nucleus from which the surrounding buildings
grew, and fronted by the historic grove of 1875, is now the Main Building. This brick
edifice contains reception rooms, the music and art studios. In the music studio is
the Gallery of Living Catholic Musicians began by the Music Department, October,
1938; the Gallery numbers sixty-five living Catholic musicians who have made worth-
while achievements in the field of music; besides the gallery of portraits, the music
library contains manuscripts of their compositions. From the belfry and observation
tower of this building one may view the surrounding country or study the constella-
tions. The Museum, located on the ground floor, contains valuable historic collections
and a variety of specimens for the study of the sciences. Adjoining the Main Build-
ing to the south, is another three-story brick structure erected in 1882, which houses
the Mount St. Joseph Library of thousands of books in common demand, and priceless
historic volumes, current magazines and bound volumes of periodicals to supplement
the book material in the various fields of instruction. To the north of the Main
Building and facing the terraced campus in evergreens, including the majestic oaks
which sheltered the arrival of the first Ursulines in 1874, and the Norwegian Spruce
Avenue planted by the hands of Father Volk in 1890, is the present Academy; this
four-story brick edifice of colonial architecture, erected in 1904, is equipped with needs
for the Academy boarders and day students. The Mount St. Joseph Auditorium on
the first floor is supplied with modern picture and stereopticon machines affording
educational pictures and illustrated lectures; the stage with its lighting fixtures, velour
drapes, and scenes make fitting setting for recitals, concerts, and plays produced by
the students' dramatic classes, and visiting artists. East of the Main Building and
facing the terraced campus is the Students' Infirmary, a two-story brick structure
erected in 1882. Facing the east balconies of the Main Building is the two-story
brick structure known as the Bloemer Building erected in 1886, equipped for the com-
mercial department. St. Angela Hall, a four-story brick edifice erected in 1913, is
the college residence for lay students, and contains the administration offices of the
Dean and Registrar, lecture and social rooms. Directly west of St. Angela Hall, St,
Michael Hall was erected in 1922 and equipped with laboratories, lecture rooms, etc.,
for the natural sciences. The Chapel which was originally in the building of 1874,
became more centrally located when the new Chapel of brick and stone construction,
Tudor-Gothic design, was dedicated in 1929; the stained glass windows are the work
of Munich artists, the choir is equipped with a splendid pipe organ. East and west
wings of the Chapel are the Ursuline Halls of 1929, containing reception rooms, lec-
ture and assembly rooms, and residence for the Nuns. The dining halls, culinary de-
partment and the refrigeration plant occupy the ground floor of the Chapel and Ursu-
line Halls.
The grounds which surround Mount St. Joseph comprise five hundred acres, includ-
ing parks, campuses, gardens, orchards, fields and woodlands. From the dairy farm
of modern equipment and well-selected livestock are derived milk, butter, cheese, and
a large part of the meat consumed at Mount St. Joseph. The water supply comes
from two wells of more than two hundred and five hundred feet deep respectively,
operated by a Meyers Self-Oiling pump run with a five-horse power direct current
generated by the Institution's Power Plant; the steam laundry is also connected with
this plant which supplies heat and electric light for the campus.
716 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Thus, Mount St. Joseph enjoys the quiet seclusion and atmosphere conducive "to
prayer, to study, and to happiness." Its organization and enrollment gives ample
opportunities to cultivate that home-like spirit for which the Ursulines are noted pre-
paring young girls for the responsibilities of Christian motherhood, in accord with
the ideals of St. Angela, Foundress of the Ursuline Order. Designed not for antago-
nistic competition but for sympathetic cooperation to provide a needed unit in the
educational work of the diocese and the State. Mount St. Joseph, as an educational
institution under the inspiration of Faith, stands for the best, both in the natural and
supernatural order; it is guided by the spirit and traditions of the Catholic Church in
education and culture, combined with American principles and ideals. While it wel-
comes non-Catholic students and subjects them to no undue influence in regard to
religious beliefs, it aims to train young women in whose leadership others will find
direction in the attainment of the ideals of the Catholic Church for the service of God
and society.
LORETTO ACADEMY BOARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Conducted by the Sisters of Loretto. Founded in 1812. Incorporated in 1829
The Sisters of Loretto, a teaching body of religious women, is an. American founda-
tion, having been established in Marion County, Kentucky, by a zealous missionary
priest from Flanders. Rev. Charles Nerinckx, with the consent of the first Bishop of
Kentucky, Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, accepted the offer of Mary Rhodes, who
had been educated in a convent school in Baltimore, to teach the children of the
neighborhood. She succeeded so well, that she was glad to accept the proffered help
of Christina Stuart, Anne Havern, Anna Rhodes, Sarah Havern and Nellie Morgan,
who were willing to share the poor log-cabin home, which Miss Rhodes was having
prepared for herself adjoining the equally poor cabin wherein she conducted her classes.
Before many months, the young teachers found their school work so much to their taste,
they decided to band themselves into a body of religious instructors, and devote their
lives to the cause of Christian education. This was in 1812. The location was near
Hardin's Creek, in Washington County, now Marion, St. Charles's parish. Moved to
the present location in 1824, beginning there also with log cabins, though of more
ample proportions and better quality, the Teaching Order began to grow apace. In
1829, December 18, the House of Representatives, and December 21 the Senate, at
Frankfort, Kentucky, discussed the desirability of passing a bill to incorporate Loretto.
Mr. Hardin of Nelson, in his eloquent speech on that occasion, said:
"Is it generous to refuse Legislative aid to the efforts of these helpless females, who
have already done a great deal for virtue, a great deal for piety, a great deal for
charity, a great deal for literature?" "Dr. Rudd," the records continue, "rose to sup-
port the motion of the gentleman from Nelson . . . the bill carried by a majority of
31 to 4," and Loretto was incorporated under the title of Loretto Literary and Benevo-
lent Institution.
Loretto's first branch establishment was at Calvary, on the Rolling Fork, Kentucky,
where for eighty-four years the Sisters conducted a prosperous school, and Calvary
Academy could claim many a wise and holy woman among the mothers of Christian
households of Kentucky and neighboring States. Two other foundations that have
done incalculable good and continue in unbroken success in the line of education are
Bethlehem Academy, St. John, Kentucky, founded in 1830, and St. Benedict's Academy,
Louisville, founded in 1842. Of the one hundred twenty-five schools founded by the
Lorettines since 1812, five were opened in their Centennial year, 1912, the most promis-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 717
ing of which is perhaps that in Rockford, Illinois. The Sisters of Loretto are now
presiding over schools in ten states — Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Alabama,
Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky, and conducting day schools in the
large cities. The Institution numbers at present approximately one thousand members.
Candidates enter upon their training as soon as they join the sisterhood and pass later
to the Normal school of the Society to prepare for the career of teachers. The Aca-
demic course is taught in the larger boarding schools, with such accomplishments as
young ladies desire; grammar grades in the parochial schools including kindergarten
work in some localities.
Negroes and Indians likewise claim the attention of the Loretto Sisters, but in
separate schools.
The Sisterhood is a Catholic organization, but non-Catholic pupils are admitted
without question as to belief, outward respect only being expected of them during
religious services.
CEDAR GROVE ACADEMY (ST. BENEDICT'S)
Conducted by Sisters of Loretto, 1842-1925
In the spring of 1842 Coadjutor Bishop Chabrat purchased the property in Port-
land, then a suburb of Louisville, better known as Cedar Grove, paying $1,200 of the
Sisters' money for the lot which was deeded to them in 1856 by the Right Reverend
M. J. Spalding for a consideration of $4,000 on which was erected the Academy
buildings. It was first known as St. Michael's.
The first community consisting of four members left Loretto on August sixteenth,
accompanied by Mother Superior Generose Mattingly. Those destined to commence
the establishment were Sisters Thecla Myres, Bridget Spalding, Angela Green, and
Eulalia Flaget (niece of Bishop Flaget) .
They reached their destination about four o'clock p.m. on the seventeenth. On
the 25th of the same month, Sister Angela Green was appointed Local Superior with
Sister Eulalia Flaget as Treasurer. Sister Angelica Hayden arrived to assist in the
school which opened September third.
On August eighteenth they received the congratulatory visit of Right Reverend Dr.
Flaget, Bishop of Louisville, together with many others, from the most respectable in-
habitants of Louisville. The Bishop blessed the house and offered up the Holy Sacri-
fice in a small room fitted up as a temporary chapel.
By December first the Sisters were able to give hospitality to five Sisters of Good
Shepherd who had come from France to open a house of their Order in Louisville, their
first in the United States. While here, the Good Shepherd Sisters applied themselves
to the study of English. Their own convent was ready for their occupancy the following
September. (See Below) .
On July 2, 1844, the scholastic year terminated with 25 boarders. The examinations
were conducted by the Reverend Father Larkin, S.J., and the Reverend J. McGill, later
Bishop of Richmond. Two pupils Misses Anna Carrell and Terese Langhorne finished
their course of studies, and were crowned. To Misses Louisa Barbaroux and Mary
Elizabeth Wathen were awarded the gold medal of superior merit.
On July 2, 1846, at the annual examination, Miss Isabel Churchill was crowned.
In August of 1866, Bishop Lavialle changed the name of the Academy to Benedict's
in honor of Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, but it continued to be more generally known
as Cedar Grove. This name we believe was derived from the fact of the number of
cedar trees there.
718 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
NOTE: From the Annals of the Good Shepherd Order in Louisville, 1853-93, "The
Sisters of Good Shepherd arriving in Louisville on December 1, 1842."
ST. CAMILLUS ACADEMY, CORBIN, KENTUCKY
St. Camillus Academy, erected in 1915 under the direction of the Sisters of Divine
Providence of Kentucky, is situated in Corbin, Kentucky, one of the most pleasant and
picturesque localities of the cliff regions of southeastern Kentucky. The site of the
institution is ideal, combining the climatic advantages of a height of some hundred feet
with beautiful, healthful environment. Excellent train service renders it easy of access.
The architecture of St. Camillus Academy, modeled after the old French Chateua
style is most pleasing; the grounds are spacious, offering ample opportunities for recre-
ation.
The purpose of its foundation is to provide for girls and young women a solid,
practical, Christian education, and to develop in them that delicacy of feeling charac-
teristic of noble Christian womanhood.
The school is approved by the State Department of Education and is affiliated to
the University of Kentucky. The regular courses of study of the Academy include
the Elementary and High School grades. There are also courses in Dramatics and
Music, and a special Commercial Course for Post Graduates.
FOOTNOTES FOR CHAPTER XXI
Rev. Martin Spalding, Sketches of Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, Vol. V,
p. 486.
"Alvin Fayette Lewis, History of Higher Education in Kentucky, (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1899) , p. 12.
Collins, History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 570.
Lewis, op.cit., 32.
Ibid., p. 32. "Ibid., p. 12. 'Ibid., p. 30. "Ibid., p. 31. "Ibid., p. 32. "Ibid., p. 13.
Marshall, History of Kentucky, Vol I, p. 443.
"Lewis, op.cit., p. 28.
Lewis, op.cit., p. 22.
"Ibid., p. 23. "Ibid., p. 25. "Ibid., p. 28. "Ibid., p. 33.
KRev. W. J. Howlett, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, (Techny, Illinois: The Mis-
sion Press S.V.D., 1915), p. 86.
"Ibid., p. 87. "Ibid., p. 251. "Ibid., pp. 255, 256.
"Ibid., pp. 120-123. "Ibid., p. 254.
Lewis, op.cit., p. 36.
Ibid., p. 37. "Ibid., p. 40.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Ibid., p. 43. "Ibid., p. 46. "Ibid., p. 51. "Ibid., p. 60.
"Ibid., p. 45. Ibid., p. 47. "Ibid., p. 58. "Ibid., pp. 58-64.
'"'Hamlett, op.cit., pp. 292-295.
"Ibid., pp. 5, 6. "Ibid., p. 7. sIbid., p. 8.
Frankfort Commonwealth, November 5, 1850.
wIbid., p. 50.
Legislative Documents of 1850, pp. 616-619.
4"The copy of the Third Constitution of the State of Kentucky, in Carroll's Ken-
tucky Statutes (1909), p. 80.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 719
See Appendix — for debate upon public education in constitutional convention of
1849.
"Hamlett, op.cit., p. 106.
"Ibid., p. 162. "Ibid., p. 200. "Ibid., p. 205.
''History of Education in Kentucky 1915-1940, compiled under direction of H. W.
Peters, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (Frankfort, 1940) , pp. 30-45.
"Ibid., pp. 85-108.
4'H. L. Donovan, A State s Elementary Teacher Training Problem, p. 13. (Disser-
tation in partial fulfillment of doctrate at Peabody College, 192) .
"° I bid., p. 16. "Ibid., p. 16. "Ibid., p. 17.
"'Alfred Leland Crabb, "an Estimate in Strong Colors." (In Teachers College
Heights, December, 1937) .
'Ibid., pp. 3, 4. "Ibid., p. 4.
"J. T. Dorris Three Decades of Progress, (history of Eastern Kentucky State Teach-
ers College, Richmond) , p. 26.
"Ibid., p. 27.
" Hamlett, op.cit., p. 278.
"Moses E. Ligon, A History of Public Education in Kentucky, pp. 337-357. (Bulle-
tin of the Bureau of School Service, College of Education, University of Kentucky,
June, 1942).
'Senate Bill, No. 14, as follows:
"An Act for the establishment of two normal schools for the training of white
elementary teachers, and appropriating moneys for the maintenance and operation
thereof.
"Whereas; the state normal schools already established can neither reach nor train
all elementary teachers needed for the common schools;
"Therefore, be it enacted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section I
"That the State Board of Education is hereby authorized and empowered to es-
tablish two new normal schools for the training of white elementary teachers, one to be
located in the western part of the state and one in the eastern part of the state.
"The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to receive gifts — of land,
buildings, or money for the establishment of these two normal schools for white ele-
mentary teachers.
Section II
"The management and control of these two normal schools, when established, shall
be and is hereby vested in the State Board of Education.
Section III
"There is hereby appropriated out of the General funds of the state, to each of
these normal schools, for the maintenance and operation, the sum of thirty thousand
dollars annually. The Auditor of the Commonwealth is directed to draw his warrant
for said sums above appropriated, upon requisition signed by the chairman and secretary
of the State Board of Education. Provided, that the above for the maintenance and
operation shall not become available for said normal schools until the State Board of
Education has received for each of the said schools gifts of land suitable for the pur-
poses of each school, and also, gifts of buildings or money, or both equivalent in value
to at least one hundred thousand dollars. Provided further, that if gifts and donations
720 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
are made, sufficient to establish one of said schools, then the sum of thirty thousand
dollars shall be available for the operation of said school."
Paducah Evening Sun, September 2, 1922.
'"An Associated Press dispatch from Mayfield printed in the Paducah Evening Sun,
September 4, 1922.
" Sketch quoted from Louisville Courier-Journal, December 28, 1871.
(,4Hamlett, op.cit., pp. 41, 42.
"Ibid., p. 75.
"Ibid., p. 76.
"Ibid., p. 77.
GSIbid., p. 77.
mIbid., p. 78.
Quoted from Courier-Journal, July 5, 1911.
''Hamlett, op.cit., pp. 106-109.
"Collins, History of Kentucky, II, 340.
Hamlett, History of Education in Kentucky, pp. 193, 194.
''Hamlett, op.cit., p. 198.
"Ibid., p. 198.
"Ibid., p. 202.
"Ibid., p. 205.
Quoted from The Courier- Journal, July 23, 1928.
"Ligon, History of Public Education in Kentucky, pp. 170, 171.
Bulletin of the Bureau of School Service, College of Education, University of Ken-
tucky, Vol. XVI, No. 3, Lexington, March, 1944 (Kitty Conroy, "George Colvin,
Kentucky Statesman and Educator") , pp. 18, 19.
"Ibid., pp. 20, 21.
"Ibid., p. 22.
r
CHAPTER XXII
DRIFTING SANDS OF POLITICS, 1900-1944
By Colonel Lucien Beckner
Ihe closing years of the century saw a number of progressive political
steps taken. The recent invention of gasoline-driven vehicles and the increasing wealth
and culture of the farm people brought on an agitation for dismantling the toll-gates,
putting the upkeep of the roads on the county governments, and freeing them to the
use of all.
The most thickly settled parts of the State had what was then thought to be an
excellent system of graded and macadamized roads. These had been built by private
companies and were maintained by tolls collected from all who traveled them. Many
of these companies paid dividends on stock and all of the roads gave their communities
invaluable services. On account of these the managements and many of the best citizens
were loath to have changes made in the system, fearing inefficiency in county management.
THE "TOLL-GATE WAR"
Noting the reluctance of the managements and fearing the political power of the
others who were opposing change, certain other elements of the population, particularly
country residents, in many places took the law in their own hands and proceeded to
pull down the toll-poles at night, threatening those who would collect tolls, and even
burnt the houses of gate-keepers. So many of these night raids took place at about
the same time that it looked like a wide-spread organization was behind them; but the
facts were that after the first raid the others were merely copying an action that
appealed to them as effective.
The Legislature of 1897 placed severe penalties upon anyone injuring property, real
and personal, particularly that of roads and railroads; and empowered any officer from
Circuit Judge to Constable to select a posse, arm it "with guns and ammunition,"
and protect threatened property and apprehend the criminals if the property was injured.
While the toll-gate "night riders" got the largest headlines at the time, there were
other important things done by the 1897 Legislature. One of these was a law to
prevent the spread of glanders; all important in a State so much of whose wealth was
in live stock. Another was the organizing of the State's cities into classes as con-
templated by the new Constitution of 1899. Others were acts against riotous assem-
blages; against sending or circulating threatening letters; and the appointment of a
committee to investigate conditions at the Eddyville Penitentiary, the management of
which had received state-wide criticism; and to determine "whether or not it is best
to place the State's prisons under a commission of business men with power to remove
officers at its pleasure."
Upon the report of this committee the Legislature of 1898 enacted laws setting up
such a commission and giving it complete powers to manage the prisons and care for
the prisoners. The commissioners were also empowered to hire to the highest bidders,
all the able-bodied convicts; and to permit parties so securing prison labor to set up
maachinery and equipment inside the prison. On March 1st, the Republican Governor,
William O. Bradley vetoed this bill, but five days later the Legislature passed it over
his veto, thus continuing in Kentucky the vicious crime of selling helpless human beings
to labor. The Legislature also appropriated $30,000. for installing plumbing, electric
722 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
lighting, cold-storage and better fire protection, and repairing and renovating the old
buildings.
THE GOEBEL ELECTION LAW
This Legislature also enacted what was known as the Goebel Election Law. Under it
the Legislature was to elect three commissioners, who were to hold office for four
years, a majority of whom would constitute a quorum. Vacancies in this commission
were to be filled by the Legislature, if in session, and, if not, by the remaining
commissioners.
This commission was given power to appoint three commissioners for each county
annually — possibly all of the same party. A county commissioner could be removed at
any time by the State Commission which could also fill the vacancy thus created.
These county election commissions appointed all local election officers and could also
remove them at pleasure. The county commissioners were to act as canvassing boards
of the election returns and to award certificates of election. Any two of the board
constituted the board.
In case of a contest over the offices of Governor or Lieutenant Governor the General
Assembly was to elect by lot a Contest Board consisting of eight House members and
three Senators, any seven of whom could act. In other contests the State Canvassing
Board, consisting of a Judge of the Court of Appeals, the Clerk of the same court,
a Circuit Judge and a commonwealth attorney, was to judge the returns. The county
boards were to have like powers in their jurisdictions.
The bill stated that "the election frauds now perpetrated in the State" were the
reason for its going into effect at once. As the bill was plainly a "ripper," designed in
passing to take from the newly elected Republican governor all power to influence
election machinery and place it in the hands of assured Democratic partisans, Governor
Bradley vetoed it on March 10th, but the Legislature passed it over his veto the next day.
The same legislature prohibited the sale of liquor in any local option district in
Kentucky, an act considered necessary because of the over-riding the expressed will of
the voters in so many places and ways. This was a faint rumble in what was later to
become a national thunder storm. Laws were also passed to melt the casting upon the
County governments of the public roads by the turnpike troubles.
The Geological Survey which has been such a stimulus in the mineral and soil
development of the State, suffered one of its periodic removals to the State University.
Non-technical legislators, not realizing the wealth which accurate knowledge and publi-
cation of mineral resources produce think to save expense by amalgamating the Survey
in whole or part with the University. Those who engage in mineral development too
often find that this removal is but an eclipse of the Survey's largest usefulness. This
removal, however, was of benefit in that it assisted in creating a mining school at the
University.
POLITICAL TURMOIL
The last years of the century were marked by initial steps of one of the most
profound political revolutions in Kentucky's history. Until the election of Governor
Bradley, Kentucky had been electing Democratic governors ever since the Civil War.
During Bradley's regime, Democratic leaders began actions to recapture the State
government. There was much difference of opinion as to method, but the most elaborate,
determined, and to many seemingly the most efficient method was expressed by the
Goebel law which would "rip" from the Republican governor and his party the influence
his position gave him.
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The Democratic convention, meeting in Louisville in June, 1899, became known as
the "Music Hall Convention," from the place of its meeting. The candidates whom
the county conventions sent to it were William Goebel, Parker Watt Hardin, and
William Johnson Stone. Yet the anti-Goebel sentiment, which was very strong, centered
about Mr. Hardin, making him very strong. Goebel had 168 j4 votes out of 1092
which made Stone so confident of the nomination that he gave Goebel the organization
of the Convention. The Stone-Goebel coalition beat Hardin. Then the Goebel man-
agers managed to throw out enough Stone delegates to nominate Goebel. Seeing the
trend of this agreement early, together with their dislike of the actions of the permanent
chairman, Judge D. B. Redwine, of Jackson, some delegates who had not been unseated
left without voting, intending thereby to void all obligations to support the nominee.
These balking delegates later had much influence in the defeat of Senator Goebel at the
polls. The conduct of the Convention was one of the points of heated debate throughout
the campaign, many voters holding that the Convention did not have the right to overturn
the actions of the county conventions which had given Goebel only one delegate in six.
This was the last election in which the Civil War was influential. The Confederate
veterans were now on the decline from the apex of their power, not having enough votes
to hold their control of the Democratic party, but enough to affect the final result.
William J. Stone had lost a leg while captain in the Confederate Army and most of
the prominent Confederate veterans had loyally championed his candidacy. Not only
were the old veterans for Stone, they were determinedly against Goebel.
In April, 1895, Senator Goebel had shot and killed Gen. John L. Sandford in an
altercation that was the culmination of many years of political contention. Gen.
Sandford had served throughout the Civil War in important positions and particularly
as Adjutant General under Gen. John H. Morgan. At that time in Kentucky there
were many members of Morgan's Brigade still living and, although Goebel was acquitted,
the Morgan veterans and many other Confederates were very angry at the killing as the
proof showed that Goebel immediately before the shooting had published in his paper
a defamatory article about Sandford, containing "fighting words" in Kentucky. As
a body the Confederate veterans threw their influence against Mr. Goebel.
Amongst other features in this complicated political picture was the fact that,
although Senator Goebel had inclined towards the "Sound Money," or gold standard,
policy at first, he had remained loyal to the regular ("Free Silver") wing of his party.
Those who had left the Music Hall Convention in disapprobation and their followers
throughout the State, not wishing to vote the Republican ticket, met in convention in
August, under the name of "Honest Election Democrats" and nominated a full State
ticket headed by Ex-Governor John Young Brown.
To all of these troubles in the Democratic Party must be added the opposition of
the Republican Party which had been ruling the State for four years under a vigorous
and astute politician, Governor William O. Bradley, and had an organization stimulated
to its best efforts by the opportunity presented in their opponents' confusion.
The Republican nomination had been contested between Samuel H. Stone, a leading
business man and Auditor in the retiring administration, and William S. Taylor, the
retiring Attorney-General. Although Stone's social and business connections were the
stronger, Taylor proved the better politician. In this contest feelings were not
inflamed and in the election the Republicans were solidly behind their nominee.
The regular Democrats made the campaign emotionally bitter rather than sanely
constructive; and by election day overly-ardent followers were ready to go the limit
for their champions.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 725
Although the Democratic party was the stronger normally and carried the Legislature,
it was not able to control its anti-Goebel members; and Taylor and the whole Re-
publican ticket were declared elected by the Election Commission appointed under the
Goebel Law, consisting of two Democrats and one Republican. This Commission
declared the result to be, for Taylor 193,714; for Goebel, 191,331; and for Brown
12,140, a plurality for Taylor of only 2,383 votes out of 400,000 votes cast. Taylor
was sworn in December 1, 1899, and the rest of the Republican ticket on January 1,
as the Kentucky Constitution directs. Goebel at once contested before the Legislature
the decision of the Election Commission and the feeling in the State became electric.
His contest was based on alleged frauds in the counties where the Republicans were in
power, mostly in Eastern Kentucky.
In Frankfort inflamatory speeches were made containing expressions such as "Wading
through blood up to the saddle-girths" and "Goebel must be stopped at whatever cost."
Republican voters from the counties contested had been pouring into Frankfort allegedly
to assert their right of personal petition. They were too many to be accommodated by
the hotels and consequently had to camp in the Capitol grounds, finding shelter in the
halls and basements of the public buildings.
This mob of men was not organized for revolution or any extra legal action. Its
members were present as individuals and their petition to the Legislature, while fervid,
was a well worded appeal for justice under the law. But in the back of each individual's
head was the idea that personal appearance was more terrifying to the Goebelites than
a mere paper petition. These men arrived in a highly emotional mood and the speeches
made to them by Democratic anti-Goebel orators increased the high tension.
Governor Taylor called out the militia and had it patrol the Capitol and grounds.
All this was proclaimed by the Goebel members of the Legislature an effort to intimidate
them. Objecting to pass through files of soldiers to reach their seats in the legislative
halls, the Goebel majority adjourned the meeting to the Frankfort Opera House and
later to Louisville. Governor Taylor, by proclamation declared a state of revolution
and adjourned the Legislature to meet in London, a Republican stronghold, which only
the Republican members proceeded to do.
On January 30, in the midst of this confusion Goebel was shot as he was proceeding
through the Capitol grounds to the Capitol; the rifle being fired from the window
of the office of Caleb Powers, the newly installed Republican Secretary of State. He
was carried to his room in the Capital Hotel where he lingered until the Legislature
declared him Governor and he was sworn in. His opponents denied that he was alive
when sworn in; but the horror of the assassination, and the fact that it must have been
the work of one or more of his opponents, quickly turned the State against the
Republicans. In the hunt for the criminal, emotions and political opportunism were too
fierce and eager to permit calm judicial procedures. Arrests were numerous, the trials
which dragged on for months and even years were tainted at times with perjury, and
a number of men were convicted.
The trials were held before Ex-Lieutenant Governor James Cantrill, then the regular
judge of the circuit in which lies the county of Franklin. Robert B. Franklin, the
Commonwealth Attorney, led the prosecutions but many of the ablest lawyers and
orators in the state appeared on one side or the other.
These trials were confusing to the people at large, little testimony being so clear and
free from political suspicions as to completely convince. A few objective facts were
established. Henry Youtsey possessed the rifle, purchased the shells, had been guilty
of wild talking, was in the building from which the shot was fired at the time, and
726 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
borrowed from Caleb Powers, a short time before, the key to his office from whence
the shot came. He made several confessions, differing in details.
Governor Taylor and several of the Republican officials were indicted on the theory
that it was a Republican plot to which he was accessory. The proof about a general
Republican plot had little more than the march of the petitioners on Frankfort and the
fact that the Republicans only would profit. Governor Taylor and others finally fled
to Indiana whose governor refused to extradite them on the grounds that no evidence
of their guilt was produced. This theory of a conspiracy was finally given up and
all those indicted, indicted and tried, or merely suspected were finally granted executive
pardons. Youtsey was the last one pardoned. Powers was elected to Congress after
his pardon.
The Goebel Election Law was revised and its objectionable features amended or
repealed in 1900, at a special session of the Legislature called by Governor Beckham
for that purpose.
THE SCOTT-COLSON DUEL
During the height of the excitement of the Goebel contest there occurred in
Frankfort an event that added much fuel to the conflagration. Col. David G. Colson,
on January 17, shot and killed Ethelbert Scott in the crowded lobby of the Capital
Hotel, as the result of a feud originating when they were officers in a Kentucky regiment
during the Spanish War. Both drew weapons and shot it out. Two bystanders were
killed, one wounded, and another broke his leg in jumping down a stairway to get out
of range. Colson had been a member of Congress and Scott was a nephew of the
retiring Republican Governor, William O. Bradley.
J. Cripps Wickliffe Beckham, having been elected lieutenant-governor on the Goebel
ticket, succeeded at the latter's death on February 3, filled cut the unexpired term
and was then elected by a plurality of 4,100, and for the next term reelected to succeed
himself by about 27,000. In his first election Governor Beckham was opposed by
John W. Yerkes of Danville, an accomplished and well-known lawyer.
The year 1901 saw an unusual outbreak of mob violence. On January 11, a negro
was hanged at Springfield for raping a white girl; on February 6 another was hanged
at Nicholasville for the same cause; on July 17 a white man was hanged at Owensboro
charged with murdering his wife; and in August another white man was lynched at
Russellville for assault upon and murdering a sixteen-year-old white girl. These lynch-
ings, so deplorable at the time, probably had a salutary effect upon the thinking of
those who had not been accustomed to consider themselves responsible for such un-
judicial punishments. Certainly lynchings have become fewer since the opening of the
new century and have practically died out by its middle.
Judge Clifton J. Pratt, who was the candidate for Attorney-General on the Taylor
ticket, took his appeal against the action of the Legislature to the courts, who unseated
his opponent, R. J. Breckinridge, of Danville, and declared Pratt legally elected,
whereupon he took over the office, Judge Breckinridge bowing gracefully to the
Courts' decision. The Legislature of 1902, however, took from General Pratt the right
to appoint the legal assistants in his office and gave it to the Auditor, showing that
partisan resentment was still strong.
This Legislature provided for the present public library system in Louisville by
enabling the city to accept the Carnegie offer of $200,000. It also provided for
libraries in cities of the second class. It also authorized the voters of a county to vote
a tax for extension of the common-school term.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 727
At the congressional elections in 1902 the Democrats elected all their candidates
except in the 11th District; and two Republican members of the Court of Appeals,
Judges George DuRelle and B. L. D. Guffy, were defeated for reelection.
An interesting and, it might be said, unique figure that appeared in the political
scene in Kentucky at the beginning of the century was Percy Haley of Frankfort.
He was of Irish extraction and not of the social type from which Kentucky was
accustomed to draw her leaders. His education had been restricted to the grade
schools but his mind was excellent, his ability to educate himself far above the ordinary,
and he had an Irishman's love of and genius for politics.
His entry into politics is said to have arisen at a session of the Legislature, when
he furnished the Democrats every morning with a report of the meeting of the
Republican canons of the evening before. The Republicans were appalled with the
accuracy of the Democrats' knowledge and the consequent efficiency of their counter
actions. The Republicans' solons had been meeting in the library room at the State
Capitol which had very deep shelves from the floor to the high ceiling. Hearing a
slight noise from one of the upper shelves one evening, the Republicans investigated and
found Haley hidden behind the row of books. He had ensconced himself there each
evening before the members arrived and was rescued by the janitor after their departure.
With the fame this gave him he continued to mount the political ladder until in
the Beckham administrations he became a power. He never ran for office but Governor
Beckham made him Adjutant General in charge of the State Militia. Practically the
whole of his political life was devoted to Governor Beckham; for, although his
political acumen was always respected, he practically retired after Beckham's Senatorial
defeat. He was not only a shrewd politician but ofttimes showed statesmanship. In the
rather shady political machines of the early Twentieth Century he played a conventional
role; but in curing the wounds of the Goebel era, for which Governor Beckham's
administrations will always be thanked, his influence was always on the side of forgetful-
ness and for the rebuilding of confidence in the government and its leaders. As he was
Governor Beckham's chief political advisor throughout, he must be given much credit
for that happy advancement in the State's political sanity which caused the emotional
hurricane of the Goebel affair to leave few scars and little rancor.
As J. C. W. Beckham, being Lieutenant Governor on the Goebel ticket, at the
latter's death assumed the duties of governor, the Democrats in the Senate at once
elected Senator Lillard Carter to preside. Lieutenant Governor John Marshall, who
had been elected on the Taylor ticket and had presided up to the time of Legislative
decision in favor of the Democrats, in conformity with Governor Taylor and the
rest of the Republican officials, refused to step aside. This led to a rather laughable
situation in the Senate. The Evening Post of Louisville on February 19th, tells it
as follows:
"Shortly before 10:30 Carter stepped rapidly into the Speaker's chair. A moment
later Marshall, smiling broadly, took the seat alongside of Carter. Both shook hands
pleasantly and Carter moved over to make room, causing applause and laughter.
Promptly at 10:30 Marshall and Carter rapped for order, Carter with his penknife and
Marshall with the gavel. Then, in chorus both said, amid laughter, 'The Senate will
now come to order.' "
Before Carter could call for petitions, Marshall called in Rev. Darsie to pray. He
made a strong plea for peace and harmony during which the Republican senators arose,
as the custom was, but the Democratic senators kept their seats. This double-headed
728 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
"control" continued good naturedly until the courts of State and Nation had declined
jurisdiction, after which the Republicans gave up.
Many other difficult situations arose during this double-headed government, one of
them being the refusal of the banks to honor the State's checks no matter by whom
issued; and Republican Auditor Sweeney, who occupied the office, refused to issue any
vouchers.
Everywhere wild rumors were flying, coming from no one knew where. In every
county mass meetings were held, addresses made, resolutions adopted. Everyone's
nerves were "as tense as fiddle-strings" as one editor expressed it, expecting each hour
to hear that "all hell had broken loose in Frankfort," that actual fighting had begun.
The situation was a near violent revolution as English-speaking people can come; it
was as far from revolution as innate sanity and respect for law could keep it.
Henry E. Youtsey was stenographic secretary to the retiring Auditor, Samuel H.
Stone, and had been recommended by Mr. Stone as a good one to his Republican
successor. The attorneys for the prosecution claimed to have a statement from him
that he offered the mulatto barber, "Taller Dick" Combs, who had been a deputy-
sheriff in an Eastern Kentucky county, and a Negro named Hockersmith $1,200 to
kill Goebel but that they held out for $1,500; and that Governor Taylor was behind
his effort to have Goebel killed but refused to have anything to do with the colored
men. But this was doubted by many because it fitted in too patly with the intention
alleged to have been voiced by a leading Democratic atatorney that the assassination
would be used "to hang Taylor and damn the Republican Party." This political
ambition undoubtedly existed in the minds of many and clouded the waters of the
investigation.
Another distracting influence was the $50,000 reward voted by the Legislature.
However, good its purpose, it attracted vultures and was undoubtedly the incitement
to the perjured testimony that crept into some of the trials.
While much of strength of the Beckham administrations was due to the sympathy
of the plebiscite for the Democrats over the loss of their leader, and to anger at the
Republicans who were at first held responsible, and to the desire of many to get
on to the "band-wagon" of the Democratic parade, much more of it was due to the
course of Governor Beckham in such nervous times. With calming courtesy towards
all and by leading the public mind into more fruitful fields than strife, he in time
brought the State out of the excitement.
THE "TOBACCO WAR" OR "NIGHTRIDERS"
His administration was not all easy going. Tobacco was the money crop throughout
the best farming lands in the State. For sometime its falling price had been producing
economic tensions and even destitution. The growers charged the buyers with the
troubles and organized into cooperative societies for selling. Their method was to
form a "pool" of the crop by pledging its individual growers to a corporate Society.
When this was done the Society, acting as agent, notified the buyers that they could
buy only from the "pool," and would have to give the "pool" price. This the buyers
at first refused which led to some financial troubles as few of the planters were
financially able to hold their crops over.
By 1904 the price was below the cost of production, even as estimated by the
grower who did not always deem his wife's and children's help as part of his expense.
In Western Kentucky where the tobacco had never brought the prices paid in the Central
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counties, the distress grew so great that the growers took the law into their own
hands, formed sub-rosa "night-rider" societies, taking their popular name from the toll-
gate raiders of the recent past, and threatened the non-poolers and the purchasing
agents and even wrought violence upon them, whipping the first, scraping their plant-
beds and even burning their barns and threatening the agents and even burning their
great factories or collecting plants in the local market towns. A few men were killed.
While most of these crimes were committed in Western Kentucky, some of the
lighter methods were practiced in the Central counties or Bluegrass, known to the
tobacco trade as the "Burley-patch." The night-rider organization gained slight hold
in this "patch." In December, 1905, the night-riders burned the tobacco factory at
Trenton in Todd County. In January, 1906, they dynamited one in Elkton in the
same county. On Thanksgiving night, the same year they burned two factories at
Princeton; and the next month tried to burn the town of Hopkinsville. The alert
mayor of this city prevented them, but a year later they succeeded.
This "war" carried on into the regime of Beckham's successor, Governor Augustus E.
Wilson, who used the militia to patrol the tobacco "patches" but with no very marked
success. Finally the rise in the price which the new and efficient selling methods induced,
and the action of the Legislature which gave legal authorization to "pooling" and forbade
selling of tobacco which had been pooled save through the pool, put an end to the
outlawry.
THE HARGIS MURDERS— "BLOODY BREATHITT"
Governor Beckham also had to meet the feud murders in Breathitt County in
Eastern Kentucky. The building of the Lexington and Eastern Railway from Lexington
to Jackson, the county seat of Breathitt, made the latter the most important com-
mercial center in that part of the State. Here the steam shipments were unloaded and
both large distributing stores arose and the wagon trade began for supplying the
smaller stores in the country beyond.
For the profits of this trade great rivalries arose. Judge James Hargis, who had
acquired a commanding position in the Democratic party, and his brother Alexander
("Alec") owned the largest store in Jackson. To the commercial rivalry was added
a political one. James Hargis was elected County Judge, a position which made it
nearly impossible to punish him or his henchmen. In the trials which later arose it was
proven that there were associated with the Hargis brothers, in politics at least, Edward
Callahan, the high sheriff and who owned a big store south some miles of Jackson,
and B. Fulton French, who had been leader of the French-Eversole feud in Perry
County some years before.
A number of people who were against the Hargis regime was assassinated; amongst
them being Dr. D. B. Cox, the leading local physician, James B. Marcum, the leading
Republican lawyer and James Cockrell the Town Marshall. Captain B. J. Ewen, who
owned a large hotel, happened to be the leading witness in the killing of Marcum,
and just as the trial was beginning his hotel was burned, for the purpose, it is said of
intimidating him.
Conditions in this county were so bad and seemingly so hopeless that the suggestion
was made to abolish the county; and it gained many adherents throughout the State.
Every little while the press would announce another shooting in Breathitt. Some of the
evidence was so repulsive that it was hard to believe. However, most of it was not
refuted save by denial of the accused parties.
Mose Feltner was ostensibly on the Hargis gang but was placed there as a spy by
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 731
Attorney James Marcum, who was afterwards killed. He told that Judge Hargis
placed several others in ambush to shoot Marcum as he came to his office from his
home. Marcum himself a Mountain man, and knowing that even Mountain thugs
would hesitate to injure a child, would carry his baby in his arms with him to work.
When they failed to carry out their orders to kill, Hargis demanded their reason. They
answered that they could not shoot because of the baby. He ordered them to "kill
the baby and wrap its guts around its father's neck."
The proof and disproof of such statements may be hard to get, but it is a fact
that Marcum was shot by Curtis Jett, one of the Hargis henchmen, that Hargis went
on his bond and fought for him through the courts, that the hotel of the chief
witness against Jett was burned just as the trial was to begin, that Mose Feltner was
offered $1,500 by Hargis to leave the State and not appear as a witness, and too
many other things in all of the trials to permit of doubt as to Hargis's hatreds and
guilt. The note for the money to pay Mose was signed by Alec Hargis, Ed Callahan,
and B. Fult French, and endorsed on the back by James Hargis. Judge Hargis later
deposited another thousand to induce Mose to leave.
Jim Cockrell was shot from the second story windows of the Courthouse. Dr. Cox
was shot from Judge Hargis' barn as he was passing along the sidewalk across the
street. Cox was Cockrell's uncle. One of the assassins testified that Judge Hargis
boasted to him that he could get a pardon in advance, even for any one, for any crime.
This was doubtless untrue, but its publication had a bad effect on the State administra-
tion, and the following elections.
The Democratic Commonwealth's Attorney A. Floyd Byrd, despite the threats and
examples of what happened to those who opposed the Hargises, prosecuted vigorously
and was the largest factor in breaking up the horrible conditions. Most of the trials
were changed to other counties where juries could be found who were not intimidated
by threats against their properties and families. No executions resulted but a number
of sentences to prison, and the widow Marcum got damages in a civil suit against the
four leaders above mentioned. Judge Hargis was shot and killed by his own son; Ed
Callahan was assassinated in his own store; Alec Hargis lost everything he had; and
B. F. French, who had moved to Winchester, died in his bed. Judge Hargis, who was
Democratic State Chairman, by his proven misbehavior, did much to help elect the
Republican successor to Governor Beckham.
In March, 1902, the Legislature made provision for a home for infirm and dependent
Confederate Soldiers. Kentucky had refused to join the Confederacy but did send her
quota of soldiers to both sides in the great Civil conflict, but it did not hesitate to care
for the old soldiers of the Lost Cause. For this purpose land was bought and buildings
were erected near Louisville. The same Legislature arranged to take care of the graves
of the Confederate dead at the State's greatest battlefield, Perryville, in Boyle County.
It also established the State Fair.
THE ELECTION OF 1903
In the gubernatorial election of 1903 the Republicans opposed Governor Beckham
with one of the State's best business men, Col. Morris K. Belknap. Col. Belknap, as
an officer in the crack Louisville Legion, the First Kentucky Infantry, had served in
Porto Rico in the Spanish War, and had been a public-spirited citizen, with a knowledge
or the State's affairs. Those Democrats who had opposed Goebel were by now coming
back to their normal allegiance, led by such men as Judge Alex P. Humphrey and
Col. W. C. P. Breckinridge and others in every county; Beckham proudly boasted of
732 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
the accomplishments of his regime, amongst which was the repeal of the obnoxious
election law, and although Belknap had a strong ticket behind him and made a vigorous
personal campaign, he was defeated.
There occured in this campaign for the first time the modern phase of the Negro
question. Negroes had been taking advantage of the public schools, and many men and
even families were appearing who could not be ranked with those who had made little
social advancement from their slave time culture. Many of these were teaching in
the schools, some were practicing the professions, and a few were flaunting signs of
wealth. As most of the Negroes were Republicans, the Democratic orators argued that,
if the former were elected, they would at once place Negroes in positions of public
trust, where they could claim and impose social equality. However, the educated
Negroes were not all voting for "Marse Abe" Lincoln; many were considering public
questions and voting as they thought best. How many, it is impossible to say, because
of the secret ballot; but it is true that education of the black man was beginning to
help the Democratic party. Besides the educated Negro vote, there were numbers of
Negro young men coming on to vote who knew next to nothing of slavery and not feeling
the ex-slave's gratitude, were selling their votes to whomsoever offered the most. The
party in power perhaps had the best of this.
While the intimidations of the open ballot had long since passed away and election
frauds were the stock in trade of local and even state leaders, violence at elections was
waning. In many parts of the state election day was exciting, but peaceful and opposing
leaders were not often armed.
In the cities police and thugs still intimidated the peaceful, and purging the lists of
"repeaters" and nonexistent registrants was an onerous duty imposed on the party's
lawyers. The Evening Post of Louisville said editorially that "The election was a farce.
Police, thugs and repeaters ran roughshod over voters and returned the required ma-
jority." While conditions were improving constantly they did not disappear in general
until women voters came to the polls. By more refined methods elections are still
swayed by other means than voting.
In May, 1907, the Court of Appeals, which was overwhelmingly Democratic, ousted
the recently elected Democratic officials in Louisville, and all the Jefferson County officers
save judges and magistrates. Its opinion was a scathing denunciation of the Democratic
committee, likening its actions to the conspiracy of King George III and his council
against the liberties of the Colonies.
The Republicans struggled to overcome the bad impressions of the Goebel troubles
as can be garnered from Ex-Governor Bradley's speech in this campaign in which he
said: "The scaffold is indeed a narrow platform on which a great party should stand."
The struggle away from Civil War conditions can be in some measure glimpsed from
an editorial from the pen of Henry Watterson appearing in the Courier- Journal which
said, "Republicanism is not indigenous to our soil. It is a noxious weed." This
statement ignored all claims the Nation might have on a voter's consideration and
assumed that voting was a purely state affair. Needless to say, Kentuckians vote as
their intelligence dictates (save the venal few) , and its allegiance swings from one
party to the other as do its sister states. Again we see that this era is the one in which
the old political concepts of the Civil War were passing away forever.
In his inaugural Governor Beckham promised not to have a partisan administration, to
improve the common school system, to make text-books as cheap as in any other state;
to encourage outside capital to develop the state's resources.
Caufield and Shook.
NATURAL BRIDGE IN POWELL COUNTY
734 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
THE ELECTION OF 1907
The Republican Convention for State officers met in Louisville on June 17, 1907.
The feeling of the leaders was against Roosevelt but not for Taft. They preferred
Charles Fairbanks. Few Negroes were present. Ex-Governor W. O. Bradley was
permanent chairman and fired the delegates with his eloquence and zeal. Augustus E.
Willson, a leading attorney of Louisville, was nominated for governor with a strong
ticket and a platform which called for the enforcement of the law, and the abolition
of the Kentucky Racing Commission. There were few contested delegations and no
squabbles serious enough to make bad feelings. Marshall Bullitt, a young attorney
of Louisville, made a speech declaring that the assassin of Goebel ought to be hanged.
The Democrats nominated W. S. Hager and made the best fight possible under the
circumstances, but their whole ticket was defeated. The Democratic candidates were
carrying too great a load. Both candidates for Governor were of high standing as
lawyers and citizens, but the people were tired of the Beckham-Haley machine, confused
about the tobacco troubles, and the Democratic party was suffering all over the Nation
from the vigorous administration of Theodore Roosevelt, the first fearless progressive
who had occupied the president's chair since the Civil War. Roosevelt's abandoning
Civil War Issues nationally was winning votes for the Republican party everywhere;
and the passing of the Confederate power in Kentucky was weakening the state Demo-
cratic party. The election of Governor Willson may be set down as a part of the
revolution that was taking place throughout the Nation. Later the Democratic party
was to make one more appeal to the Civil War feeling by nominating Senator McCreary
for Governor. He was elected, however, not by war votes, — but he did the party no
good.
Bradley was nominated by the Republicans for United States Senator and Beckham
by the Democrats. As the Democrats usually elected the Legislature regardless of the
vote for state officers, they were very confident of Beckham's election; but in the first
ballot he was four votes short in the Senate and three in the House. Necessary to
elect, 69; Beckham had 66, Bradley 64, bolting Democrats 4, absent 3, and one not
voting. This was a deadlock and on January 21, 1908, William J. Bryan appeared
before the joint body and appealed for Beckham. On February 28, Bradley was
elected, one Democratic Senator having died and three Democrats voting for Bradley.
Governor Willson set out vigorously to curb the lawless spirits in the tobacco organiza-
tions by using small detachments of mounted militia for patrolling the several districts.
He also called the leaders for a conference meeting in Frankfort. His first Legislature
also legalized producers' pools and made illegal the selling pooled tobacco outside of
the pool.
Governor Willson's regime is also noted for the expansion of the school system and
the establishment of the state's high school system. This last is part of a movement
that was sweeping the Nation about that time which was to make easy a preparation
for college and thereby increase college attendance in America to numbers undreamed
of in the world theretofore. At the beginning of the century college attendance in the
United States was around 115,000, but the work of the high schools constantly increas-
ing, it was 1,300,000 in 1941, almost or possibly as great as all of the non-English-
speaking world together.
Governor Willson's second Legislature appropriated $500,000 for completing the
handsome new Capitol; $10,000 for repair of Henry Clay's statue in Lexington, it
having been injured by a storm; the name of the State A. & M. College at Lexington
changed to Kentucky University; the Christian Church institution in Lexington which
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 735
had been using that name being induced to give it up and return to its original name
of Transylvania University.
Annual appropriations were fixed for the various state colleges and better organizations
provided for county school districts and sub-districts. Each county was directed to
establish one or more high schools. Child labor laws were passed to protect children .
from exploitation or heavy or dangerous tasks. An educational commission was formed
to study the state's school system, compare it with other states, and report to the next
General Assembly. The Attorney General was empowered to employ legal assistance
when needed. The education and training of teachers were standardized. An experiment
station and farm were appropriated for. Mine safety laws were passed; and the remains
of Captain Thomas F. Marshall taken from their grave in Woodford County and
reintered in the State Cemetery at Frankfort.
Governor Willson's second legislature established the State Board of Health, with
duties to investigate and prevent where possible the diseases current; to make bacterio-
logical survey of the state's waters and other possible sources of disease; to collect vital
statistics; to control disease amongst domestic animals; to train county and city health
officers. Another act was passed to prevent cruelty to animals.
The compulsory school law was strengthened. The law on compulsory attendance
at this writing (1945) seems to have fallen down or the will of Kentuckians to go to
school seems weak. In 1940 the attendance on school of persons from 5 to 24 years
of age in the various states shows Kentucky at the bottom of the list. In the states
surrounding Kentucky, Virginia has an attendance of 52 percent; West Virginia (a
Mountain state) 56 percent; Ohio, 59; Indiana, 59; Illinois, 58; Missouri, 57; and
Tennessee, 53. Kentucky has only 39, the lowest in the Union.
Other interesting acts were passed. One designating electrocutions as the means for
carrying out the death sentence. Hanging which had been the conventional way at
least since the days of Esther gave way to modernism. Another was the providing
a plant for making serum and virus for prevention of hog cholera. Thus registered
the end of witchcraft and nostrums, swept aside forever by knowledge. Another
provided for the registration and management of motor vehicles and traffic. Another
passage from the dying past to the eaning future. The National income tax amend-
ment was ratified, a long step away from the tax ideas of the founders of the Republic.
It also decreed that the state would take part in the Centennial Celebration of the
Battle of Lake Erie, as Kentucky had supplied cordage, hardware, and men, and the
results of the battle were so beneficial to the state. Eight hour work day was established.
This regime shows how revolutions arrive in free democracies. The end of the ante-
bellum, Civil War, and post-bellum ideologies arrives and the new era begins, not
entirely free from stress and violence, witness the Goebel troubles, the Mountain feuds,
but the violence never rules, it is but a minor incident, although sensational. The deeper
movements are hardly noticed.
THE ELECTION OF 1911
In the political campaign of 1911 ex-Governor and ex-Senator James B. McCreary
was the Democratic nominee for governor and Judge Edward O'Rear the Republican.
During Willson's regime O'Rear had been Chief Justice, and differences had arisen
between them so serious that Willson did not attend his party's convention and seemed
to take no interest. The burning issue was probably prohibition, the form in which
it was presented was whether local option should be county-wide or for sub-districts
within the county. Mr. Watterson in the Courier- Journal argued that local option was
a Trojan horse" and if admitted would shortly mean state-wide prohibition. Besides
736 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Mr. Watterson's personal predilections, his fear was that Louisville would be voted dry
by the state, and against its wishes.
Mr. Desha Breckinridge, editor of the Lexington Herald, the Democratic daily for
Central and Eastern Kentucky, did not think that county option could be enforced but
warned the liquor interests to clean house if they wished their industry to survive; that
they must break all ties with politics or the people would consider them fair marks for
political action. McCreary and Beckham favored the county option plank, and it was
adopted. There was an anti-lobbying plank; one favoring woman suffrage in school
elections; one for workman's compensation and arbitration of labor disputes by law;
and the usual promises of financial reform, school improvements, and criticism of the
Republican administration.
The Republican platform denounced the Democrats for not apportioning the state
into state and National election districts according to the provisions of Congress; de-
manded a corrupt practices act that would limit the size of campaign contributions and
prohibition of contributions by corporations and demanded bipartisan control of elections.
Asked that direct primaries be held under state auspices and paid for by the state.
That the judiciary be chosen in a non-partisan manner and for non-partisan grounds.
Favored the county unit in local option; equal educational opportunities to children of
both races, longer school terms and better paid teachers. Condemned the "Third
House," the lobby; favored arbitration of labor disputes; and the usual promises of
reform and recriminations against the Democrats.
The split between conservatives and progressives that caused the "Bull Moose" de-
fection was beginning to be noticeable. The progressives disliked Taft but had to
endorse him to get into the "pie" in event of his election. Senator Bradley, an old
line conservative, led the "pie" brigade and won. One of the wags got off this quatrain:
"Little drops of Willson,
Little grains of Taft,
Make for Billy Bradley.
Isn't it a laugh?"
The county was running against the conservative branch of the Republican party
and its machine, and O'Rear, although making a vigorous campaign was defeated.
Although Governor McCreary was long past the most active of life he proved still a
potent campaigner. He and Governor Shelby, who was the first and fifth governor are
the only governors to be reelected with intervening regimes of others. It is interesting
to note that although the new governor had been in public office practically all of his
adult life, the opposition found nothing in his public record that could be successfully
attacked. He proved a conservative, matter-of-fact, political administrator.
The outstanding act of his regime was the organization of the State Highway Depart-
ment. The "Moonlight School" movement to cure Kentucky of illiteracy, inaugurated
by Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart, of Morehead, proved to be rather helpful and popular
at that time. The new methods of transportation were demanding legal controls and
adjustments and better roads. A realization of this at first appalled the taxpayers as
it was not foreseen where the new taxes were to come from.
In 1914 Senator W. O. Bradley died in office and Governor McCreary appointed
Johnson Camden, a wealthy horseman of Woodford County, to fill the unexpired term
until the November election. In November Camden won the remnant of Bradley's
term over William Marshall Bullitt, Republican, and George Nicholas, Progressive, both
attorneys of Louisville.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 737
For the full term Senatorial election coming at the same election, J. C. W. Beckham
won the Democratic nomination over Governor McCreary and A. O. Stanley, a Member
of Congress, and defeated the Republican ex-Governor A. E. Willson.
In the presidential campaign of 1912 a new party appeared, the Progressive, led by
the ex-President Theodore Roosevelt. To the prestige of Theodore Roosevelt there
were added the national opposition to Taft's regime, the impression that he was using
Federal office holders to gain a renomination, and the revolution in political thought
that was sweeping the country, to which neither of the older parties was hospitable,
and which the new party expressed in its platform and candidates, capturing many
leaders from both the Democrats and Republicans.
The new party was popularly known as the "Bull Moose," from an expression of
Theodore Roosevelt relative to his physical fitness, and it adopted the bull moose as
its emblem. In Kentucky it did not take as well as in some states — perhaps because
the Republican party was a Federal office holders' party and expected Taft's reelection.
The proportions of the parties were expressed in the Senatorial race between Camden,
Bullitt and Nicholas. The figures were 177,797, and 133,137, and 31,641 respectively.
In the adjoining State of Indiana, where the Republican party had been a state party
and where leaders like Beveridge favored it, it cut a large figure. Mr. Taft's over-
whelming defeat and the election of Woodrow Wilson is National history.
One of the results of Governor McCreary 's return to the governor's chair was the
creation of McCreary County. This made the one hundred and twentieth county in a
state that needed not over forty; more than any other state in the Union except Texas
and Georgia. Like the great majority of Kentucky counties, it cannot pay its way,
placing the burden of maintenance more heavily than formerly on its residents and a
further load on the twenty or thirty counties which pay their way plus a surplus into the
state treasury which has to be devoted to their less fortunate sister counties.
On November 11, 1911, President Taft visited Frankfort to dedicate the bronze
statue of Lincoln placed in the rotunda of the new Capitol by the generosity of Mr.
James B. Speed, of Louisville. It was a gala occasion.
On Nov. 9, a few days before, the Lincoln Memorial Association presented the
Lincoln Memorial at Hodgenville to the Nation. Governor Jos. W. Folk of Missouri
made the presentation and President Taft accepted it. Senator Wm. E. Borah, of
Idaho, Mayor General John C. Black, of Illinois, Brigadier General John B. Castleman,
of Louisville, and The Right Reverend Thomas S. Byrne, Bishop of Nashville also spoke.
THE ELECTION OF 1915
The election of 1915 was led by A. Owsley Stanley, gubernatorial nominee of the
Democrats and Edwin P. Morrow, of the Republicans. The Republicans had almost
recovered from the Bull Moose defection while the Democrats were rather apathetic.
The result was that, while Stanley was elected, he had 40,000 less votes than were cast
for McCreary.
The "wet" and "dry" question had become a burning one and many Democrats
were dissatisfied, particularly those who had favored the candidacy of Harry V.
McChesney, who had announced "dry." Not only was Stanley considered "wet" but he
was thought by many to be the candidate of the liquor interests. In spite of the fact
that he had declared himself in favor of the County Option law, which his platform
endorsed, he was considered by many as wetter than Morrow. Harry McChesney and
Lieutenant Governor Edward McDermott were not treated very well in the convention.
Four members of the Democratic State Committee were removed without cause and
Beckham was hissed when he protested. Stanley won. The Republicans thought they
738 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
had the election won until a few hours before the voting when they learned that the
two northern counties in which lie the large cities of Covington and Newport, and upon
which they were relying, would not support Morrow because of the defection of the
local Republican leader. Although it was noised around that this was due to the
liquor and horse interests it was too late for Morrow to make use of this rumor.
Although Stanley's plurality was less than 500, Morrow refused to contest because
of the bitterness it would engender. Instead he conceded his opponent's election and
in a gallant and magnanimous address claimed that his campaign would result in much
good, because it had called attention to governmental extravagance and many other
things the people ought to consider.
Governor Stanley's inaugural speech won plaudits from the press and the public
generally, in which he promised a number of needed laws and reforms.
Mr. Watterson, who was very "wet," in an editorial in the Courier-Journal attributed
the little done by Stanley's first Legislature to the "prohibition politicians and their
fanatical dupes" who "paying no attention to the pronouncement of the people at the
polls . . . insisted on keeping all sorts of liquor bills and resolutions to the front . . .
so effectively that the wets as well as the drys subordinated everything else to mouthing
and wrangling, bickering and dickering."
A Kentucky Council of Defense was created and the possession of firearms and
explosives by aliens was prohibited; a war-time necessity.
In the Legislature of 1918, the National Prohibition amendment was ratified, and
the pen with which the Governor signed it was auctioned on the floor of the House
and bought by Representative Clarence Miller, of Estill, for $150.00 the money going
to the Red Cross. The State was redistricted into the 100 legislative districts demanded
by the Constitution. Other important incidents of Stanley's regime were acceptance
of Federal aid in road building; a corrupt practices act; abolishment of railroad passes.
The pardon record of Governor Stanley was sharply criticised so as to give the general
impression that something wrong was being done. However, no successful accusations
were made.
The war stimulated the state's mineral production in oil, coal, fluorite, clay products
and also in timber. There was no such industrial development as featured the state's
contribution to the second World War.
Senator Ollie M. James died in office in 1918, and Governor Stanley appointed
George B. Martin, of Boyd County, to the unexpired term. Senator Martin sat until
March 4th, 1919, when Governor Stanley, who was elected the preceding November to
the succeeding term, took the seat. Senator Martin was in the Senate too short a time
to make a mark, but he was an accomplished gentleman of native Kentucky stock, a
highly educated and successful lawyer, and would have held his own in any body.
When Governor Stanley resigned to become Senator, Lieutenant Governor James D.
Black's regime was too short to have accomplished anything of note. He did not have
a Legislative session. Most of his time was taken up with his candidacy to succeed
himself. A feature of his campaign was his creations of numerous "Kentucky colonels."
It has often been said that Kentucky is more like mother England than any of the
states. In England anciently the Knight was a functional military officer; later the
sovereigns knighted men who had done something worth while or were personal friends,
regardless of military standing. In Kentucky the colonelcy has had the same history
and, but for the oaths of chivalry candidates for knighthood had to take, is practically
the same in public estimation. The "colonels" are a select body of men— and lately
women — and while there is some inanity, there is hardly ever a lack of good breeding
or good behavior.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 739
THE ELECTION OF 1919
In the governor's race in 1919, Edwin P. Morrow, who had so nearly defeated
Stanley was the opponent of Governor James D. Black. Black's opponent for the nomi-
nation was Judge John D. Carroll, of New Castle, at the time Chief Justice of the
Court of Appeals and one of the ablest jurists the state has produced. Black's majority
was over ten thousand in the primary.
While Black was a good visitor and handshaker and made an active campaign of
that nature, Morrow was a great orator of the kind who could say good things
eloquently but in the words of the common people. He discussed State affairs in a
convincing and confident way and touched with wisdom and fine satire the good and
bad issues, promising no more than seemed possible but things which everyone knew
should be done.
Morrow's indictment of his Democratic predecessors gives such a clear light upon
conditions and the causes of his election that quotations from it can hardly be avoided
in a description of political opinions and facts: (The Louisville Herald, May 15, 1919).
"Four years ago there came to a close an administration of the people's affairs. An
administration marked by broken promises and violated pledges, characterized by needless
waste and reckless extravagance, branded by confessed and open political corruption,
shamed by the plunder of the public treasury, and closing with naught to show for its
existence save a public interest-bearing debt of more than three million dollars. Four
years ago in a campaign which stirred the state to its depth, the people were asked to
repudiate that administration, to rebuke its unworthy servants, to strike against their
own dishonor. But wedded to their idols, bound by their customs, they withheld their
condemnation and placed the welfare of the state in the hands of the present
Administration.
"Under fair and solemn platform pledges, and by word of mouth these public servants
promised economy, retrenchment and reform; the abolition of useless offices; the removal
of the charitable and penal institutions from political control; the turning on of the
light, and faithful and efficient service. For four years this administration has had
the full and absolute control of every branch and department of the state government.
"As it approaches its wretched end, these are the known and admitted facts:
"No economy, but increased extravagance. Six million dollars more collected from
the people, while the state debt has grown greater by a million and a half dollars —
More burdens to bear and less evidence of the benefits of government; no 'beheading'
of useless officers, but increased cost in every department of state.
"Impotent by its favoritism, befouled by its pardon record, stained and shamed by
the mockery of political control of the state's charities, ludicrous in its text-book adoption
— in the midnight of political corruption, it is dying — without a champion, a defender
or an apologist.
*K *K *K
"This administration has been the husbandman of the fairest land on earth; it has
let the golden harvest of its opportunities go ungathered, and permitted it to be dispoiled.
Entrusted with the shining talents of government, it has buried them in the dirty napkin
of political intrigue.
"Now the master (the people) , demand to know the condition of the vineyard, and
the use that has been made of the talents."
Morrow's election is due to his proposals for progress and the public confidence in
him — his accomplishments were many but the leading ones were his placing of engineers
in charge of road construction; improved educational facilities, methods and school-book
740 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
selection; corrected many bad conditions in the penal and charitable institutions; defeated
the anti-evolution law which would have fined or imprisoned or both anyone mentioning
that subject within long distances of a school-house; and added two new normal
colleges, Morehead and Murray. His regime was not all plain sailing. There occurred
a tobacco panic at the end of the war; a coal strike; and a terrible lynching battle at
Lexington between citizens and the militia. On the whole Governor Morrow's regime
was one of the best in recent times.
Senator Beckham's term coming to an end, he stood to succeed himself, but was
defeated by Richard P. Ernst, a prominent lawyer of Northern Kentucky.
THE ELECTION OF 1923
In the campaign of 1923 William Jason Fields at the time Congressman from north-
eastern Kentucky, was the Democrat standard-bearer, while ex-Attorney-General Charles
I. Dawson was the Republican nominee. The interesting events of this campaign
occurred in the nominating conventions. The Democrats first selected J. Campbell
Cantrell, son of the Judge in the Goebel trials, and at the time representing the
Ashland district in Congress. But between his nomination and the election he died
and Fields was then chosen hurriedly to carry on. Under such circumstances the
Republicans had the advantage. But they had their troubles also.
George Colvin, of Washington County, was ending a term in the too often colorless
office of State Superintendent of Education, that had proven anything but colorless
under him. His regime was not sensational but vigorously constructive and liberal,
taking his obligations dead earnestly and putting into a highly trained intellect and a
consuming zeal for education.
The announcement of his candidacy was received with approbation by many Democrats
who saw in his honesty, his earnestness, his courage, his efficiency, and comprehension,
the opportunity for an administration to their taste. If elected by help of progressive
Democrats, it would make of the Republican party one of state aims. A large and
potent part of that party was determined to keep it in the hands of those who handled
Federal patronage, and therefore saw that if Colvin should win, they would lose their
power. Even since Kentucky had shown a willingness to go Republican, the National
organization had been willing to put larger sums of money into its elections. The con-
trol of this money was a vital consideration politically. In the days before Kentucky
first went Republican the party had had to build its support from Federal office hopes
and holders, so that the leaders who grew up in that day considered any other attitude
as young presumptious impudence and threatening to their interests. They had been
"ins" and resented Democrats coming into the party, since from their point of view
winning state elections was not essential or even unsafe.
This branch of the party violently opposed Colvin and when he came to the con-
vention at Lexington a possible winner, they pulled all the tricks of organization possible
to defeat him. Their candidate Judge Dawson had not appealed to the independent
voters and few, if any, felt that he could win if nominated. His speeches lacked the
progressiveness, the terseness, the zeal of Colvin's, and after the dissatisfaction produced
by the defeat of Colvin, the independent vote went to Fields. As the Mountains were
the stronghold of the Republican party, Fields who was a Mountain man, played upon
the dissatisfaction in that section by promising, if elected, to put in good roads, which
next to schools, were the Mountain peoples' greatest need.
Dawson was later appointed Judge of the Western Federal District, which he resigned
after some years to enter private law practice.
History of Kentucky 741
Colvin became President of the University of Louisville where he gave much promise
but died after a short term.
The administration of Governor Fields proved to be rather unpopular. Governor
Fields had earnestly hoped to help the state, to bring progress. Yet he was far too
ingenuous to deal effectively with the astute political manipulators of what was termed
a "diabolical bi-partisan machine." He had gained the ill-will of the Courier-Journal
which had bitterly opposed and helped to defeat his plan to float bonds to the amount
of $50,000,000 or more for education, roadbuilding and general improvement. The
enmity of this and its sister paper, The Louisville Times, has been fatal to many
administrations and governors. As these are the only papers in the state with large
statewide circulation, they wield a tremendous influence. If they choose to be partisan,
which is sometimes the case, then the people get their political facts in a somewhat
biased form. Yet these papers are more often right than wrong. Moreover, there
was also much inefficiency and apparent waste in the management of the departments,
together with flagrant nepotism on the part of the governor. Undoubtedly, the Gover-
nor, a trusting man, was greatly imposed upon by many selfish, often ignorant, political
leeches, who exploited state jobs without rendering adequate or competent service.
It might be pointed out too that little of polish, urbanity, grace, charm or rhythm was
associated with the administration. All in all therefore the Fields' administration moved
to an unpleasant end, unwept, unhonored and unsung. Under these circumstances the
Republicans became active.
THE SAMPSON ADMINISTRATION, 1927-1931
The tendency in the two parties regarding the approaching elections was to split along
the line of reform and anti-reform, particularly as concerned legalized race-track
gambling. As a reform candidate the Republicans presented Robert Lucas, while the
"bi-partisan" or pari-mutual" Republicans put forward Judge Flem D. Sampson. In
the Democrat party, the "reform" elements advanced J. C. W. Beckham, while the old
line Democrats presented Robert T. Crowe, of La Grange. Running rather independently
was William Shanks, retiring auditor. Incidentally many officials as soon as they
become seated in the Capitol begin grooming themselves for another state office, pre-
ferably the governor's. After a few months of routine clerical-help flattery, many of
these officials feel, no doubt, that they should be at least president of the United States.
After a bitter race in which Mr. Crowe proved an able and popular candidate gaining
support everywhere, the Democrats selected Mr. Beckham, known as The Courier-
Journal candidate (Mr. Beckham was a close friend of Judge Robert W. Bingham,
owner of The Courier-Journal) . Mr. Crowe made a good race. Somehow the people
got the impression that he really would give them good roads and bridges; moreover,
they liked Crowe, with his pleasing personality, his ability to throw everything he had
into a speech, his apparent seriousness. He gained rapidly, starting from nothing, just
the anti-Beckham-Bingham candidate. He promised 33 1/3 percent cut in State tax
on agricultural land and a similar reduction in state license on automobiles. The support
of the Fields administration was given him. Clearly vast numbers of people were tired
of Mr. Beckham, who was thought to have little to offer.
The old line machine Republican leaders, Chesley Searcy, Morris Galvin and Matt
Chilton supported Judge Sampson, while the reform leaders, among whom were Mayor
Huston Quinn, U. S. Senator Fred M. Sackett and William Heyburn, of Louisville,
supported Colonel Lucas. In the primaries Beckham and Sampson won out.
So clear was the disaffection in the Democrat party because of dissatisfaction with
the Beckham-Haley-Bingham group that signs of bolting were evident. In November
742 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
the entire Democrat ticket except Beckham was elected. In a very bitter race, Beckham
was beaten by approximately 10,000 votes, while the other Democrat candidates won
by fairly good margins. The racing interests had fought Beckham, as well as many
of the women voters. (He had opposed the woman suffrage amendment in the U. S.
Senate) . Clearly, the people had not voted for Sampson, they had voted against
Beckham.
The two tickets had been made up of the following candidates: Republican Ticket:
For Governor, Flem D. Sampson, Barbourville; Lieutenant Governor, E. E. Nelson,
Williamsburg; Secretary of State, Mrs. F. D. Quisenberry, Elizabethtown; Attorney
General, Miller Hughes, Prestonburg; Treasurer, John G. Rogers, Frankfort; Clerk
of the Court of Appeals, W. A. Dicken, Albany; Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Warren Peyton, Beaver Dam; Commissioner of Agriculture, Tate Bird, Shelby ville; and
Auditor, John Perkins, Frankfort.
Democratic Ticket: For Governor, J. C. W. Beckham, Louisville; Lieutenant Governor,
James Breathitt, Jr., Hopkinsville; Treasurer, Emma Guy Cromwell, Frankfort; Auditor,
Clell Coleman, Harrodsburg; Commissioner of Agriculture, Newton Bright, Eminence;
Attorney General, J. W. Cammack, Owenton; Secretary of State, Miss Ella Lewis,
Leitchneld; Clerk of the Court of Appeals, William B. O'Connell, Louisville; and
Superintendent of Public Instruction, W. C. Bell.
Governor Sampson, assuming that the people really desired his being governor, drew
up an expansive program of reform and progress for the Legislature to enact — im-
provement of education, welfare, penal and charitable institutions, roads, bridges, parks,
building of memorials to the heroes, etc. But the Democrat Legislature had no inten-
tion of passing his program, which was ridiculed by many from many angles. A bitter
and acrimonious struggle ensued in the Legislature, preventing the passage of much-
needed legislation. The Democratic majority proceeded to shear Governer Sampson of
his appointing power and to bestow it upon the Lieutenant Governor. The impasse
continued throughout the administration. The press howled fiercely and the people
began to talk of gubernatorial incompetence. An editorial in the Courier- Journal of
March 21, 1930 summed up the administration in this manner:
"End of a Story that is not Ended.
"Kentuckians interested in the welfare of their state will review with mixed feelings
the Legislature's session just ended. It did good work and it did bad work, but its
bad work was so very bad that it is likely to warp the minds of many against conceding
the Legislature all the credit that is its due.
"Chief among its good works was its enactment of a new election law and its salvation
of Cumberland Falls. It could not have pleased more people than by its acceptance
of the duPont offer; while the election reform it provided gives the State better assurance
of fair elections than it has ever had — an assurance which it has sadly needed. Who does
not believe that if this law had been in effect in 1927 Kentucky would not have been
humiliated by the Governor who now discredits the Executive chair? In future it will
be very difficult to steal elections in Kentucky, as elections in Kentucky have been
stolen in the past — and not remote past.
Louisville, by the way, has particular reason for being grateful to this Legislature
for coming to the city's aid in its fight for fair elections. The passage of the model
registration law was handsomely done, and is none the less appreciated because under
a proper system of government Louisville would not be compelled to go to Frankfort
for legislation regulating the city's local elections.
The blight of this session of the General Assembly was partisanship — partisanship of
the blindest, bitterest kind. The Democratic majority went to Frankfort hotly resenting
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 743
the partisan maladministration of a Republican Governor, and especially his Highway
Commission. They had ample cause for resentment, but in venting it they acted on
the mistaken assumption that any course was justifiable to remedy the situation: that
any wrong was right to right a wrong.
It was a blunder which not only submerged the session in partisanship, but which will
submerge the future politics of the state in partisanship. While a legislative investigation
was not necessary to show that the Sampson Highway Commission should be removed,
if that could not be effected through legal processes it would have been far better to
wait for the installation of a new administration by the next election than to resort to
the desperate expedient of smashing constitutional government in order to smash the
Highway Commission. But the smashers were determined. They ripped out of office
the Governor's Highway Commission and put in its place a commission of their own,
all Democrats, by transferring a Republican Governor's appointing power to a Demo-
cratic Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Not only that, but they replaced
a bad piece of road machinery with a worse, doubling the number of commissioners and
allotting them to geographical districts, in accordance with a system which cannot be
well worked except by logrolling, and which, if the courts allow the commission to
stand, will afford the members tempting opportunities to mix their official duties with
politics, one of the curses of the old commission. It is not inexplicable that General
Sibert declined to serve on the new commission.
"Whether or not this revolution of the Democratic majority of the Legislature shall
result in better administration of the Highway Department, it is bound to effect most
injuriously the politics of the State. It will subordinate all other considerations in
the next political campaign to the passions of the primitive partisanship, dividing the
state into two camps, each actuated by the supreme, if not sole, purpose to cut the
other's throats.
"In its bearings on the fortunes of the Democratic Party, the enactment of the
Highway Ripper bill was egregious tactical folly. With the notorious record made by
the Sampson Administration, all that the Democrats had to do to sweep the last
vestige of it out of power was to wait until they got a chance at it in the election
booths. But they have now given the Sampsonites a new issue — an issue on which,
the Democratic Party in Kentucky will be compelled to fight a defensive, instead of an
aggressive campaign.
"It is an issue which already is rallying all stripes of Republicans, including those
to whom Sampson has been a nauseating dose.
"That was strongly in evidence at the gathering of the clans at Frankfort Wednesday
night, in response to the summons of Sampson, when even such Republicans as Louis-
ville's Mayor joined Sampson in denouncing the Court of Appeals on its stand for
clean elections in this city. But for the era of partisanship which has been inaugurated,
no such powwow as that at Frankfort Wednesday night would have been possible. It
was there that the Governor was able to convert a personal rebuke into a party
insult. It was nothing to him to be prevented from making private deals for a few
million dollars' worth of textbooks, an $11,000,000 bridge bond issue and a cement
plant to do business with the Highway Department, or to be prevented from controlling
the Highway Department during the approaching campaign. His agony was all for
his beloved party. He would have it believed that he is only the vicarious scapegoat
turned loose in a patronageless wilderness.
'And the Governor didn't stop at the Legislature. In sympathetic company he
attacked the Court of Appeals which had held him to the law against his attempted
private negotiation of public contracts, two of the Judges being Republicans. He
744 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
referred to the Louisville election case in which he had sat while a Republican candidate
and he denominated it a judicial ^ripper dubbing his colleagues of the court six of
the gloomiest little men,' although one of the Judges concurring in the ouster and
disagreeing with him was a Republican of high character and legal ability.
"The politicians who gathered at that banquet would not think of pitching the 1931
campaign on an issue approving the Sampson Administration. They are belligerent
with a new hope now because they believe they will not have to fight on that issue, as
the Democrats of the Legislature have given the Republicans a new issue."
THE ELECTION OF 1931
The Democratic State Central Executive Committee called the democratic convention
for May 12, 1931. Aspirants for nomination were: Judge W. R. Shakelford of Rich-
mond, James Breathitt, Jr. of Hopkinsville, W. B. Ardery of Paris, Clell Coleman of
Harrodsburg, Dr. Rainey T. Wells, of Murray, Ralph Gilbert of Shelbyville, Judge
Ruby Laffoon of Madisonville, Joseph E. Robinson of Lancaster, and Osie S. Ware,
of Covington. The former U. S. Senator Geo. B. Martin, of Catlettsburg, campaigned
for Shakelford and was himself picked to run as coalition candidate for temporary
chairman by the minority candidate. This was an attempt to ward off Ruby Laffoon who
had more delegates than anyone else. The Woodland Auditorium in Lexington with
a seating capacity of only 2,400 was packed with nearly 4,060 heads. With Shakelford
and Wells withdrawing and Gilbert quitting on the second nomination, Laffoon got
1,548 of the 1,922 votes. Later with only Ardery and Breathitt left in the race, he got
1,735 votes. He was thus nominated on the first ballot. Congressman Fred M. Vinson,
of Ashland, was elected temporary chairman and Fred Wallis of Paris, permanent
chairman. While awaiting the reports of committees, the crowd found entertainment in
Senator Barkley's and Logan's comments on the National and State Republican ad-
ministration. The democratic platform called for (1) a complete audit of every
department, (2) a balanced budget, (3) impartial distribution of road construction, (4)
free textbooks, (5) economy in government, (6) continuation of present highway com-
mission, (7) tax revision, (8) enlargement and modernizing of charitable and penal
institutions, (9) educational extension and improvement, (10 stringent bank law, (11)
consolidation of counties, (12) encouragement of manufacturing and enterprises.
A disturbance which surely influenced the convention was a disagreement between
the miners and operators of the Harlan mine. On May 11, the mine guards were
replaced by 400 National Guardsmen and five had already lost their lives in the violence.
The Courier-Journal, saying that Kentucky must be "rescued from the wildness
of misgovernment into which it has been forced by both Democratic and Republican
Administrations" has this comment on the Democratic platform: "In estimating these
convictions and purposes, the platform put forth by the convention counts for little.
That is an elaborate document, containing much that is commendable, including impor-
tant recommendations which if heeded will promote the good of the commonwealth.
It was written by a committee on which were Democrats of character and ability. But
its authorship will not execute it. Nor was that expected of its authors who referred
the detailed execution of its policies and principles to the Legislature and the Governor.
To what extent it expresses the views of Judge Laffoon is not known; nor is it known
to what extent it expresses the views of the convention, for it was adopted by that body
in a jiffy, without being read to it."
During the torrid heat of a July day, former Governor Morrow the temporary
chairman, sounded the keynote for the Republican Convention in the Woodland
Auditorium, Lexington. He declaimed the Highway Law as a Monster, demanded its
Courtesy, Louisville Convention and Publicity League.
UNITED STATES GOLD STORAGE VAULTS AT FORT KNOX
13— Vol. II
746 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
repeal, and pledged the Republican party to the formation of a Bi-partisan Road
Commission if the law is not repealed. He also extolled Mayor W. Harrison, of
Louisville as a knightly leader to carry forward the standards of the Republican party.
Judge Sam Hurst, Beattyville's nominee for the Republican ticket withdrew, leaving
Harrison as the sole Republican nominee for Governor. The platform of the Republican
party for the 1931 election made the Road Board the target of its attack. It lauded
theh Hoover and Sampson Administrations as well as advocating (1) a bipartisan or
preferably a non-partisan highway commission, (2) free school books, (3) a scientific
survey of the state's charitable institutions, (4) equal representation, and (5) greater
economy in administration. It also asked for a Republican Assembly and denounced
"bipartisan political combines and pledged the freedom of republican nominees from
such influence.
The Socialistic-Labor Ticket was made up of Herman Horning, Louis Fleischer, and
James O'Hearn, all of Louisville, for the officers of Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
and Secretary of State respectively.
The outcome of the 1931 elections was an overwhelming democratic victory, Laifoon
led Harrison by 73,078 votes — a margin that has been topped only once before in
Kentucky when John W. Stevenson the Democratic candidate of 1868 triumphed by
78,677 votes. The effects of his election on the Legislature was that the House now
had 74 Democrats to 26 Republicans. "The explanation is that Kentucky, like the
rest of the country, is flooded by a tidal wave against the Republican Party, caused
by the unpopularity of the Hoover Administration and the conditions which for nearly
two years during the life of that Administration have depressed the country and for
which so many of the voters, however unjustly, hold the Administration to blame."
(Courier- Journal, November 6, 1931). So this cause might also be added the un-
popularity of the former Republican Governor Sampson and Laffoon's connections with
the "political combine" which sought "to make itself supreme by fastening upon the
state a hand-picked chief executive and a subservient Legislature." (Louisville Herald
Post, July 21, 1931).
The beginning of the Laffoon Administration — one of the most turbulent that Ken-
tucky has suffered for many a decade — was one of pagentry and festivity. The oath
of office was administered by Judge Richard Priest Dietzman and soon afterwards Laf-
foon appointed Brigadier General H. H. Denhardt of the Kentucky National Guard,
the former Lieutenant Governor, as the new Adjutant General. In his inaugural speech,
Governor Laffoon showed deep emotions. He said that as a boy while plowing he
had frequently entertained the dream to be governor, and that he would be Governor
of and for the whole people. He also mentioned the pressing need of the under-privileged
children, relief for penal and charitable institutions, and the demands for better roads
and other improvements. He also congratulated Harrison for his courtesy during the
campaign and for his felicitations.
Governor Laffoon entered office at a bad time. The country was rapidly entering
the depression. President Hoover had asked for higher taxes and burglarizing by
armed bands was prevalent, especially in Louisville. Tobacco riots had broke out in
Lexington as 200 tobacco growers held mass meetings because of the fall in tobacco
prices. The dispute between the coal miners and the mine operators was still in
progress and a group of 40 students under the auspices of the National College Com-
mittee in New York were turned back by irate citizens of Bell County and were
denied the protection of county officials when they sought to make a study of the
miners's conditions in Harlan County.
This lack of employment accompanying the depression was the principal social prob-
lem of the Laffoon Administration. It was this unemployment that allowed thousands
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 747
of workers to appear on the Frankfort streets March 3, 1932 in opposition to the Sales
Tax measure that Governor Laffoon championed. Some of the mob even broke into
the Governor's mansion, frightening members of the household and breaking some
furniture. The Anti-depression War conducted by the American Legion, the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, the Associated Advertising Clubs and the American Legion
Auxiliary in March of 1932 was mainly an attempt to curtail this unemployment.
It aimed in this way to bring about a recovery of business and to employ large numbers
of men. The War ended in Louisville on March 20th with a big parade of Legion-
naires and other groups. To this date 600 had been employed in Louisville and $50,000
of construction work pledged.
The 1932 session of the General Assembly of the Kentucky Legislature adjourned
with very little accomplished. The most important bills were the sales tax which was
denied consideration by the State Senate, the redisricting bill which reduced Ken-
tucky's congressional districts from 11 to 9, and the budget bills which increased the
state's budget to approximately "$4,000,000 more than the anticipated revenues." The
Legislature did provide for a board of eight to make a two year study of the state's
educational needs. The need for such a survey was questioned by an editorial in the
Courier-Journal of March 22, 1932, on he grounds that a survey had already been made
by the Kentucky Educational Committee, employing the best minds in Kentucky and
assisted by the General Education Board of New York and that the very definite recom-
mendations of the Efficiency Commission on the subject of Education in 1924 were
unheeded.
On the whole few sessions of the Legislature have been subjected to as much criti-
cism as that of 1932 Assembly. The Herald Post, March 19, 1932, saw its sole re-
deeming feature in the fact "that thy fell out among themselves so that the state may
have been spared something worse." The Courier Journal of the same date had more
to say: "Deplorable it truly is, for there never was a time in Kentucky history when
sagacious competent patriotic statesmanship was so urgently needed in the administration
of Kentucky's government. And yet there never was a time when such statesmanship
was so lacking at Frankfort and when the abortive efforts, or pretensions, of the Ex-
ecutive and Legislative department left the state in so shamefully wretched a con-
dition."
"In the first place, that administration came in not on the broad, high plane of con-
secration to public service regardless of party partisanship but consecrated to the en-
abling theory, rto the victors belong the spoils.' From the first, that theory inspired
and dominated the Governor and his partisans in the Legislature. They seized all the
spoils in sight, and, hungry for more, created more spoils by the establishment of more
offices and the payment of salaries to officials who had been unsalaried. Republicans
everywhere were either dismissed by the Governor or ripped out by the Legislature, and
their places were filled by persons who whether or not they were otherwise qualified,
had the qualifications of calling themselves Democrats and of helping or professing
to help the victors to get within reach of the spoils.
". . . Both branches of the Administration the Executive and Legislative — worked
cooperatively together in the effectuation of that policy but cooperation ended when
they undertook to meet serious problems of the government's administration which
confronted them, and which they were elected to solve. Then they were at sea. They
were at loggerheads. They floundered in confusion and ignorance of what should be
done, utterly unable to formulate and agree upon any method of solving the problems,
whose solution the welfare of the State demanded and whose solution they had so
fully promised when they asked to be entrusted with the solution."
748 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
The 1934 session of the Kentucky Legislature passed among other bills the new
school code. (See Chapter on Education) .
Because the important task of levying taxes to provide the state with an adequate
budget was not completed in the regular session, a special session of the General
Assembly was called and convened Wednesday May 9, 1934. It will be recalled that
this problem of state finance had claimed the attention of the 1932 assembly. Governor
Laffoon asked for a reduction of the real estate tax and for the pooling of funds, ex-
pecting, of course, that the Legislature would provide additional revenue from some
other source. But he and the Legislature disagreed over the source. He succeeded in
defeating the House plan to tax the sale of malt and the exploitation of natural re-
sources; but his plan to tax the necessaries of life through a retail sales tax met with
both popular and legislative opposition. It had the opposition of the Merchants and
Commercial Associations, while a crowd of several thousand appeared in Frankfort,
March 3, 1932 to boo the measure. The bill was defeated when the Senate refused
to consider the proposed sales tax. Governor Laffoon declined to call a special session
to provide the needed appropriations and when the regular session in 1934 convened,
he failed to transmit to the House the report of his Budget Commission with budget
bills appropriating the revenue until March. Then the House was "monopolized with
the activity of the Committee on Foreign relations engaged in exposing the conspiracy
of Kentucky retail merchants against higher prices and investigating the treasonable
utterances of a number who had critized the way the House proceeded with its busi-
ness in a [Courier-Journal] "Point of View" article from which his name was with-
held. Perhaps the bipartisan majority felt they had earned the leisure for a man hunt.
They already had prevented a vote on the compulsory primary law, passed the ripper
legislation, placed municipal power, light, fuel and water plants and the rates of public
service companies under a bipartisan State board over the opposition of the cities,
reduced the taxes on utility, coal and gas lands, defeated N.R.A — State cooperation,
and authorized the establishment of convenient nudist colonies." — (Courier- Journal
March 17, 1934) . The result of this was that a special session of the Legislature be-
came necessary to appropriate needed funds for the administration. Governor Laf-
foon's Sales Tax bill was decidedly unpopular and a flood of tax bills were proposed in
the House in opposition to it. After a long deadlock, however, the House on June
8, passed the bill 51 to 47 and on June 15 the Senate gave its approval with a 20 to 17
vote. Governor Laifoon signed the bill six hours later, saying: "Within six months
this bill become the most popular act ever adopted in the State." The revenue from the
sales tax, estimated at $12,000,000 annually, was divided between the state and county
governments with the State getting two-thirds. After stripping Lieutenant Governor
Chandler, bitter opponent of Laffoon, of his power with a ripper bill, the Special
Session ended July 3. As it turned out the Sales Tax became what was perhaps the
most unpopular bill in Kentucky's history as a state.
Opposition to the Laffoon Administration was not long in arising. His administration
actually was unpopular from the start, and the depression in no way helped this state
of affairs. Before two years his program was torn apart by the depression and party
defection. Lieutenant Governor Chandler had strongly opposed his sales tax bill in
the Senate and his Drivers' License Law and the Chain Store tax repeal bill were passed
only after the Chandler Anti-administration forces had adjourned. The crisis came
when Governor Laffoon was in Washington to request $50,000,000 in Federal aid for
road construction. Lieutenant Governor Chandler called an extra session of the Gen-
eral Assembly to consider a compulsory Primary Bill that would undo the work of
the nominating committee and submit the choice of Democratic candidates to the
people. Governor Laffoon hastened back to the state and signed a revocation order
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 749
to cancel the extra session; but the Court of Appeals declared that the special session
was valid. Apparently the Governor felt that his favorite for the coming gubernatorial
election, Mr. Thomas S. Rhea, would be more favored by a Democratic Convention,
while Lieutenant Governor Chandler thought his hopes of running as the next Demo-
cratic candidate for governor would be better advanced by a private ballot submitted
to the people. When the Primary Bill won out in the special session, Laffoon gave
his support to a proposed dual primary bill which provided that a second primary
ballot be taken if no candidate obtains a majority in the first ballot, — only the two
highest candidates would run in the second ballot. This bill became a law in Feb-
ruary 27, 1935, when the Chandler forces joined those of the Laffoon — Rhea factions.
It was this dual primary bill that won the 1935 elections for Chandler against Mr.
Rhea.
Albert B. ("Happy") Chandler came to his nomination in large part because of
his action in calling an extra session of the Legislature during the absence from the
State of Governor Laffoon; and, in so doing throwing down the gauntlet to the interests
who were popularly thought to be behind Governor Laffoon and so capturing the
imagination of the people by his boldness.
In his campaign for the nomination he set out his purposes and platform so clearly
that he took the initiative and held it all through the campaign. Expense of state
government had risen beyond reason and the sales tax imposed by the Laffoon regime
was not popular. This he promised to repeal and at the same time reduce the state's
debts and expenses. To many this sounded like pulling rabbits out of the hat, but his
earnest campaign oratory did not sound like the usual campaign promises to be broken
later on.
Besides the popularity of his political ideals and the courage of his speech and actions,
"Happy" Chandler has always been a pleasing personality so that besides his earnest-
ness and understanding on the rostrum he exuded a wealth of geniality and good feeling
in his personal contacts with the voters.
In his opposition for the nomination he was blessed. Governor Laffoon had gotten
through the Legislature a double primary law, which voters generally thought to be
an effort to defeat Chandler. This was a compliment which produced both respect and
sympathy for the latter. In the first primary John Rhea of Russellville ran ahead but
in the second, Frederick Wallis of Paris, dropping out being also a progressive, his
votes went to Chandler and aided greatly in his victory.
In the regular election Judge Swope rather attacked Chandler than discussed affairs
of state. Voters like to have their business discussed with them on a non-personal
basis, and the more serious ones do not now take much interest in the candidate who
does not take them into his confidence and explain how his election will benefit their
future. To Swope's assertion that Chandler would prove a dictator, "Happy" answered
happily by playing on Swope's first name and calling him "King of Kentucky." As
neither gentlemen were inclined towards dictatorship or royalty, "Happy's" retort con-
tained just as much sense as "King's" charge and besides contained the divine spark
of humor which Swope's lacked. Amongst Chandler's champions was ex-Governor, ex-
Senator J. C. W. Beckham, the "elder statesman" of the Kentucky Democracy.
Swope also charged that the state's civil and highway employes were being bled for
contributions to Chandler's election fund. This was doubtless true; but it had too
long been a custom in Kentucky to cause dismay or even a shock; and, as the Republi-
cans made no effort to prove it or stop it, but only used it for election ammunition,
the public felt that it was exaggerated and that a Republican administration would not
remedy it. The charge was far from a "bomb-shell" and it is doubtful if it did
Chandler any more damage than it did Swope.
750 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
At Governor Chandler's inauguration a vast and colorful procession marched in
review at Frankfort on December 10, 1935. There were lowering winter skies and chill
winter winds but the turnout was the largest in the history of the state. The pro-
cession was two hours in passing the Governor's reviewing stand.
A passage in his address typified the young Governor's disposition. It said "My joy
at the opportunity to serve you is unbounded. I commenced this campaign in Kentucky
this year with a smile upon my face and a song in my heart." Among the distinguished
men on his platform were former governors of Kentucky, A. O. Stanley, J. C. W.
Beckham, William J. Fields, and James D. Black; Governor George H. Earle of Penn-
sylvania; Postmaster General of the United States, James A. Farley; Senators Joseph
Guffey of Pennsylvania and Harry F. Byrd of Virginia.
The retiring Governor, Hon. Ruby Laffoon made a kindly and gentlemanly address.
Chandler promised reorganization "from top to bottom" of the state government; ade-
quate appropriations for the public schools, charities, and public health, and establishment
in Kentucky of President Roosevelt's program for social security and old age pensions.
The Courier- Journal's editorial the next day said "The address of Governor Chandler
was admirable in scope of reassurances and restraint of modesty." The new governor
acted with vigor to make his promises good and "the majestic proportions of the vote
cast, the mandatory majority, the inaugural demonstration were too imperative to be
misunderstood by the legislator" as the Courier- Journal put it.
J. Dan Talbott, the Insurance Commissioner, estimated that the Reorganization Bill
that was passed would save the state $2,000,000 annually.
On March 6, the Courier- Journal said:
"This legislature has crowded an extra session within the constitutional period of the
regular session with time to spare. It has proceeded with expedition and precision
because it has been systematic in its procedure and attended to the state's instead of
the Lobby's business." In its session no "gag" rule, no "deals," no bipartisan coal-
ition, were in evidence.
Particular attention was given to educational needs. The Sales Tax was repealed and
higher taxes paid on alcoholic beverages. Reforms were instituted in the State High-
way Department designed to prevent its participation in politics. When the appropria-
tions exceeded the estimated tax income Governor Chandler called the Legislature in
extra session to raise taxes for the following two years so that the appropriations could
be met.
The Kentucky Constitution forbids debt in excess of $500,000, but Governor Chand-
ler inherited from past administrations one and one half million dollars of floating
debt. The state's outstanding warrants on January 1, 1936, amounted to $21,366,000,
which was $1,500,000 in excess or receipts for the preceding six months. Chandler's
administration wiped out the $1,500,000 deficit, paid the state's bills, and had a balance
of $1,120,000 in the treasury. In one month after his inauguration he had dropped
3,500 people from the state's payroll. To this the Courier- Journal commented "Again
the Governor displays the same alacrity and initiative which caught the public imagi-
nation . . . He leaves himself no course but reform."
At the close of his first legislative session the Courier- Journal said "Governor Chand-
ler stands, still at the beginning of his administration, unsurpassed in accomplishment
in this or perhaps any commonwealth.
There were no ill-winds or untoward events in his administration worthy of mention.
He showed a power of foresight and a skill in planning rarely displayed in our
public officials.
On October 3, 1939 Kentucky's United States Senator, M. M. Logan died and it
became incumbent on the Governor of Kentucky to appoint his successor As Gover-
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 751
nor Chandler had accomplished the reforms he promised in his campaign and as his
term of office was nearly up, he resigned, and Lieutenant-Governor Keen Johnson suc-
ceeding to the governorship, appointed "Happy" to fill out Senator Logan's unexpired
term.
History without reluctance and few apologies will tell that he was a good governor;
and his legions of acquaintances will remember the exuberant spirits, and genial ways
that made him to all, not Governor or Senator so much, as "Happy Chandler."
THE ADMINISTRATION OF KEEN JOHNSON, 1939-1943
As gubernatorial administrations go, Chandler's tenure must be considered as one
of progress and achievement. His sentimentalism on the hustings was not carried into
his administration of affairs. Yet Governor Chandler was far more unpopular upon
leaving office than upon taking it, in spite of successful incumbency. This was due
perhaps to four reasons, namely (1) the officiousness of his officials (2) the fact that
the people were showing signs of satiety with the sustained combination of Horatio
Alger — poor-boy-makes-good, Al Jolson-Eddie Cantor, "Pass the Biscuit Pappy" Mc-
Daniel brand of campaign spell-binding. (3) Too, Mr. Chandler's chief adviser, or-
ganizer and manager, J. Dan Talbott (former auditor and incumbent finance chief)
had gained many enemies to the administration because of what were termed dictatorial
and ruthless political methods; especially had the perennial extractions of funds from
the job-holders for the campaign war chests irritated many. (4) Perhaps the principal
cause of the growing unpopularity was the fact that he had audaciously challenged
the Senatorial seat of Alben W. Barkley in 1938. The general feeling among Demo-
crats was that Barkley for his many and faithful services to the party, in both the
state and nation, deserved the nomination without serious opposition. This action,
brought on by boundless ambition and faulty advice, proved to be a costly blunder
indeed, one which seriously injured Mr. Chandler locally and nationally.
That Keen Johnson, acceptable to both the Thomas S. Rhea and Dan Talbott wings
of the party, would receive the Democratic nomination in 1939 was a foregone con-
clusion. Yet it was known that Mr. Johnson was formed in a somewhat conservative
retiring mold — none of the Chandler blare, blarney and fanfare, which but for the
time would have in no wise been discrediting to Mr. Johnson.
Nominated, along with Mr. Johnson were: Rhodes K. Myers, for Lieutenant Gov-
ernor; George G. Hatcher, for Secretary of State; Ernest W. Shannon, for Auditor;
David Logan, for Treasurer; Hubert Meredith, for Attorney General; John W. Brooker,
for Superintendent of Public Instruction; William H. May, for Commissioner of
Agriculture; and Charles K. O'Connell, for Clerk of the Court of Appeals.
The Republicans after a spirited race between Judge King Swope, of Lexington,
and Judge John Cooper, of Somerset, again nominated Judge Swope as their guberna-
torial standard-bearer. Nominated with him were: Jouett Ross Todd, for Lieutenant
Governor; Kenneth Tuggle, for Attorney General; R. L. Stewart, for Clerk of the
Court of Appeals; Charles I. Trivette, for Secreary of State; Thomas J. Niceley, for
Auditor; John S. Petot, for Treasurer; John S. Brown, for Superintendent of Public
Instruction; and Van Alexander, for Commissioner of Agriculture.
The Democrats were pleased to stand upon their record of achievement in both the
state and nation, pointing with pride to the success of the Chandler administration
in reorganization of the state government, liquidation of indebtedness, accumulation of
surplus, old-age benefits, conduct of the penal and charitable institutions and, par-
ticularly to the multiplicity of New Deal reforms. They reminded again the voters of
the depression begun during Herbert Hoover's administration and indicted the Re-
publican party for both its incipiency and its continuance.
752 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
The Republicans, on the other hand, charged their opponents with inefficiency,
bossism, graft, favoritism and mounting taxes. Judge Swope made a vigorous, vitriolic
campaign, but all to no avail. The New Deal had almost completely gained the labor
and the Negro vote, without a good part of which — barring wholesale Democrat dis-
affection— the Republicans could not hope to win; moreover, the farmers were sticking
with the Democrats.
The vote was: Johnson, 460,834; Swope, 354,704 — a majority of 106,130 votes for
Mr. Johnson — a majority seldom, if ever, precedented in races for state office in
Kentucky.
Governor Johnson could do little more than carry forward reforms which had al-
ready begun. He hoped to improve the penal and welfare institutions, conduct an
efficient business-like administration, and build up the surplus. He seemed determined
apparently at all costs to be niggardly in spending. Though a cultured, pleasant gentle-
man, he did not possess the warmth, geniality and approachability Mr. Chandler
possessed as governor, which, though nothing to his discredit, probably gave many an
adverse impression. Unfortunately, his determination to be parsimonious with the
public funds was an admirable resolve which came at the wrong time. Costs of living
were rapidly mounting, prices of materials were skyrocketing (the Second World War
was on) , which caused state employees, wards and teachers to suffer acutely. Spending
lavishly probably would have been quite in order; yet only a trickle came out. The
welfare institutions and public education were soon in a sad plight — and little help
was forthcoming.
Mr. Johnson too was unfortunate enough to inherit the sins of a long-time incumbent
political machine, the accumulated short-comings of which, though not of his making,
were nevertheless charged to him. Soon it was whispered that Clifford E. Smith, a
Frankfort attorney, was profiting greatly through favoritism. Mr. Johnson possessed
also an attorney general who was a free lance individualist, cantankerous, with a positive
mania for muck-raking. No less more vitriolic but more of a genius at magnifying
errors into public scandals and coloring personalities to angel white or satanic red was
the Courier-Journal's columnist, J. Howard Henderson, who did with words what
Nast had done with cartoons during the 1870s and 1880s. Scandal after scandal, real
or imagined, developed. All the while the old needy, the wards and the teachers were
suffering; education was breaking down; the people, stirred by the war, were becoming
more and more restive. Governor Johnson conducted the office with dignity and firm-
ness. Yet, the public tide was sweeping away from the state Democrats. Even a large
section of the Democrats had become disaffected. They were preparing to punish the
organization for its accumulated sins. The Republicans, breathing the sweet odor of
victory from afar began scrambling for position.
Though the candidates of the two parties are more or less picked by the organiza-
tions, a primary is held, in order to carry cut the letter of the law and give the people
the impression of their sovereignty. The Republican primary in the year 1943 was
merely a nominal affair with no contests. However, the race for the gubernatorial
nomination in the Democrat party became serious, with the former and popular Farm
Bureau Federation district head, Ben Kilgore, challenging the organization-picked
candidate, J. Lyter Donaldson, an able and tireless public servant. Though Mr. Donald-
son won out, Mr. Kilgore ran a strong race, and it appears that most of the disaffected
Democrats did not return to the fold that year.
The Republicans selected these candidates: Judge Simeon S. Willis, for Governor;
Kenneth H. Tuggle, for Lieutenant Governor; Mary Landis Cave, for Secretary of
State; Eldon S. Dummitt, for Attorney General; Charles I. Ross, for Auditor; Thomas
W. Vinson, for Treasurer; John Fred Williams, for State Superintendent of Public
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 753
Instruction; Elliott Robertson, for Commissioner of Agriculture; and E. E. Hughes,
for Clerk of the Court of Appeals.
The Democrats nominated: J. Lyter Donaldson, for Governor; William H. May,
for Lieutenant Governor; Charles K. O'Connell, for Secretary of State; Ernest E.
Shannon, for Auditor; Holman R. Wilson, for Treasurer; A. E. Funk, for Attorney
General; George L. Evans, for Superintendent of Public Instruction; Tom Phipps, for
Commissioner of Agriculture; Brooks L. Hargrove, for Clerk of the Court of Ap-
peals.
They, after promising to "clean out the gang," repeal the income tax, appropriate
increased funds for education and more benevolent attention to the pensioners and
wards and returning soldiers, as well as the Negroes, set forth a "Bill of Particulars"
so scathing that it is here quoted in full from their hand-bill:
"Bill of Particulars
"The Johnson-Donaldson political crowd promised Kentucky honest, honorable, effi-
cient management.
"But once safely in office, it: —
"Gave no relief to burdened taxpayers though state income was far more than
enough to meet expenses.
"Strengthened by devious political practices a machine that already had the people
by the throat.
"Put and kept on the payroll men who by later acknowledgment didn't do one lick
of work for the state.
"Engaged in purchasing practices that its own personally selected committee found
loose, preferential and wasteful.
"Tried to put through a laundry-equipment deal that would have cost the taxpayers
needless thousands of dollars and were kept from doing so only by courageous action
on the part of the attorney general.
"Attempted to keep on collecting tolls after the bridge at Covington had paid for
itself and again were prevented from doing so by action of the attorney general.
"Farmed out back-tax collections, at a fabulous commission, to Politician-Lawyer
Clifford Smith, alias "The Brain."
"Faced an injunction, obtained by the attorney general against Johnson and Donald-
son, forbidding the assessment of state employees for campaign-fund purposes.
"Denied, through Spokesmen Johnson and Donaldson, the receipt of $22,000 in
illegal campaign funds, only to be forced to a confession by the actual evidence.
"Appointed as finance manager for the Donaldson campaign a notorious lobbyist
for big and special interests, thus giving the lie to its own promises of reform.
"It's high time for a change!"
Mr. Donaldson came out with a sensible, sane platform of economy, efficiency and
support of the Roosevelt administration. He did not believe that the state budget
could stand the loss of revenues brought in by the state income tax and therefore
stated that he opposed its repeal. He wished very earnestly to be governor and
probably would have made an efficient one, but he had too great a load to carry.
Moreover, Judge Willis, a fine, impressive-looking man physically — a six-footer with
a shock of gray hair and a twinkle in his eyes — proved to be a very popular and con-
vincing campaigner, inspiring confidence everywhere he spoke. Even the old-time
Democratic spell-binders, rabble-rousers and stem-winders could not stem the tide.
Willis and the entire Republican ticket (with the exception of Mary Landis Cave for
Secretary of State, beaten by the very popular and versatile Charley O'Connell) were
elected by more than 5,000 majority.
754 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
ADMINISTRATION OF SIMEON S. WILLIS, 1943-
The Republicans were ushered in auspiciously. Both the Courier- Journal and
the independent Democrats — even the vitrolic, truculent and predatory Howard
Henderson — were inclined to wish well Governor Willis. Yet, he lost the support
of all these, together with many Republican politicians, within a short time. Several
factors are responsible for this rapid decline: (1) A chastened and contrite Democracy,
ashamed of its disaffection and resolved to stick next time. (2) the Governor's failure
to act quickly with a clear-cut decisive program in dealing with the Legislature early
in the session. (3) The fact that the Governor, who had promised repeal of the in-
come tax, was forced to back-track on his campaign promise. (4) The fact that
though promises were kept in appropriations for education, the teachers and education,
because of war-time conditions and an ancient and settled backwardness and con-
servatism on the part of the generality of Kentuckians in matters pertaining to educa-
tion, were little better off — actually worse off by comparison with all the other forty-
seven states of the Union. (5) The welfare and penal institutions, because of war-time
prices and shortage of able personnel were soon in trouble. (6) Governor Willis does
not appear to like politicians and does not "play-ball" with them, it is said. Actually
Governor Willis is a very attractive man whose honesty and sincerity can not be
doubted. Yet, he is judicially-minded, which makes for conservatism and slowness —
often being injurious to the executive. War-time conditions too have deprived every
department of the full and efficient personnel needed for successful administration.
Most of the Democrats held over (and the number is large) know departmental work
better than most of the new Republicans.
It is quite obvious that Kentucky ranking at the bottom among the states of the
Union in welfare, education, antiquity of transportation laws, governmental organiza-
tion, and many other things, needs reform. It appears quite clear that the entire people
should go in for a vast and compelling crusade for general improvement and uplift.
This should present a very challenging appeal to both parties and leaders. What the
Republican party and /or Governor Willis will do are not yet known. As Senator
Chandler seems upon the point of resigning his seat at this time (April 27, 1945) to
accept the position of "Czar" of baseball, made vacant by the death of the colorful
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, many political speculators are of the opinion that
Governor Willis will resign and that Lieutenant Governor Tuggle, becoming governor,
will appoint Governor Willis to Chandler's vacated seat in the United States Senate.
As time advances, the records clearly reveal that Governor Willis is sincerely desirous
of planning improvement and advancement to the state. He has appointed several non-
partisan committees, particularly the Post War Planning Council, which are undertaking
to make a fair estimate of Kentucky's needs, as well as suggesting means of achievement.
Since the end of the War, many signs indicate beginning action for the state's improve-
ment. The Department of Education has announced a broad program of expansion,
improvement and advancement; the Department of Conservation, guided by the enlight-
ened policies of Federal agencies, has announced a forward looking program of soil
improvement and preservation, forest improvement and preservation, and a fine program
of recreation, embracing many sections of the state. The Welfare Department has also
recently announced an incipient building program and adoption of improved methods
in connection with the many institutions under its control and supervision. Barring a
legislative session in 1946 controlled by parsimony and partisanism, the people of Ken-
tucky may well look forward to the beginning of an era of advancement and prosperity
in the state.
APPENDIX A
DANIEL BOONE
An account of Daniel Boone's captivity as related by Nathan Boone, youngest son
of Daniel, to Lyman Draper.
The same evening occurred a dispute arose — probably in council as to whether the
prisoners ears should be trimmed — i.e. to split the rim of the ear fully two inches in
length in which when healed to hang bobs, &c. The two French officers got into a
warm dispute about it, one proposing and favoring the measure & trying to persuade
the Indians to adopt it — the other opposing; they finally drew their swords on each
other, & Black Fish & other influential Indians interfered & prevented bloodshed.
Boone asked Brubey, what this was about, & he told him. This Col. N. Boone thinks
must have been the only thing this project of trimming of the ears — that Jackson
alludes to, when he represents a council held to determine the fate of the prisoners.
That possibly there may have been a council held, & Col. Boone may have in it spoken
in behalf of the prisoners & demanded the fulfillment of the stipulations & that Jackson
misunderstood the point discussed.
Thinks the return march of the Indians to the Shawanoe towns, was one of severity
& want but no distinct recollection except that some of the Indians had their ears
frozen; — has heard his father speak, when in want of food, of having eaten slippery
elm bark (rather loosening) and oak ooze by chewing tanbark (stringent) mutually
to counteract any bad effects — & also knows Indians have what they call black drink
made into a soup with weeds, — (what it is made of not known) which they take when
they have overloaded their stomachs at a dog-feast, when they have tried to see who
could eat the most, & wish to vomit; but cannot fix either of such resorts as having
occurred on this march. Their route, or of crossing the Ohio not known. Recollects
of some carrying kettles — no particular incidents connected with them remembered.
Nothing particularly recollected as occurring at the Indian town — Black Fish &
other Indians took Boone to Detroit. Gov. Hamilton offered to ransom him, but
Black Fish would not part with him (probably retaining him, as I think, to carry along
on the intended expedition against Boonesboro, to make use of him in effecting the
peaceable surrender of the fort & people, according to Boone's promise made, in
durance ?, when first captured — as Santa Anna acknowledged the Independence of
Texas.)
At the first arrival of Black Fish, Hamilton learning the name & character of Boone
as the principal prisoner, sent for him — wishing to keep & entertain him that night,
& return him next morning. The Gov. wished to gain intelligence, — & had Boone in
his room; & enquired if he had heard anything of Burgoyne's army? Yes, says Boone,
it was well known in Ky. as a fact before I was taken, that Burgoyne & his whole
army had surrendered to Gen. Gates. Gov. Hamilton then called to his private secre-
tary, John Hay, in an adjoining room, saying — "Hay, the report of Burgoyne's disaster
I fear is true; Capt. Boone says it was well known in Ky. before he was taken. Feel-
ing convinced of it, Hamilton requested Boone not to mention it to the Indians, as it
would do no good. You are too late, Governor, I have already told them of it,"
The Governor then desired that Boone would endeavor to speak slightly of the affair,
756 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
as if it were mere vague report, & was unworthy of belief, — or that he had jokingly
spoken of it. No recollection about any other conversation.
Finding Boone could not be redeemed, the Governor gave orders to the King's com-
missary to furnish Cap't Boone with a horse, saddle, bridle & blanket and also with
a quantity of Indian silver trinkets to use among the Indians as currency. The horse
furnished was a poney. Col. N. Boone thinks it very likely Col. D. Boone used some
policy with Hamilton; but no knowledge of exhibiting his Dunmore commission.
Returning from Detroit, Black Fish went down the Lake, & up Huron River, to
visit the Mingoes, & other Indian towns — & fell upon the heads of Scioto & down it,
visiting other Indian towns — giving them all notice to assemble for the grand expedition
against Ky.
The first of the Salt boiler captives who escaped & got in to the settlement, was
Andrew Johnson. While a prisoner he made the Indians fully think he was a fool;
would set him shooting a gun — he would be afraid of the gun & when he would shoot
he would dodge his head back, & make awkard & bad shots — even missing a large
tree when near a mark. Feigned fear to leave camp alone. The Indians would make
much sport of him; & being small in size, gave him the name of pe-cu-la, or the Little
Duck.* He was really an admirable woodman, & took an early occasion to run off,
which he effected without difficulty as he was deemed by the Indians too foolish to
know enough to attempt to escape — or if he attempted, to succeed in it, & hence was
not watched as were the others. Johnson soon reached Boonesboro — & piloted a small
party to the Indian country near Chillicothe & attacked several sugar camps all together
adjoining each other & defeated the Indians there, perhaps killing one or more — &
then returned safely back to Boonesboro (See Whitley's M. Co. narrative) . (This is
doubtless the affair meant in Col. A. Campbell's letter, July 31, 78, that "A Captain
& 11 men from Ky. went within 5 miles of Chillicothe lately undiscovered & returned
safe." (possibly Capt. Smith & John Martins trip?) Undiscovered until they got
within 5 miles of Chillicothe & attacked the sugar camps, as I suppose: No knowl-
edge what subsequently became of Johnson when Black Fish & Boone returned from
Detroit. Black Fish asked Boone who he thought it could possibly be that had done
this bold act — as the Indians thought none of the Kentuckians knew the locality of
the Indian towns & geography of the Indian country. Boone replied, more to annoy
the Indians than really thinking it was so, that it was Pe-cu-la. No, says, Black Fish,
it could not have been him — he was a fool & could not have reached Ky. He was no
fool, but a man of good sense, & a fine woodsman, said Boone. Then why did you
not tell me so before enquired Black Fish? "Because," Boone, you never asked me.
'You had him herein for a laughing stock." Boone learned upon his return to Boones-
boro that Johnson was the one who incited 6C piloted this little expedition. It gave the
Indians much concern, as unimportant as it was, it being the very first enterprise of
the Kentuckians against their towns; & was the first proof to them that the captivity
of the large party of salt boilers was in a fair way to result as disastrously to the
Indians as advantageously to the whites.
Sam'l Brooks & James Calloway attempted to run off from the Detroit region, in
canoe down Detroit river — in a fog — as it cleared off, they found themselves in the
very midst of an Indian town on the bank of the stream, & were retaken — made to
run the gauntlet, where were squaws & children & youngsters, who are always more
unmerciful to one running the gauntlet than the men are, & both passed through a
severe ordeal & Brooks particularly, who, when struck, would stop & strike the Indians
in return, & during the race got his arm broke. They were put in confinement & were
overheard planning another attempt to escape. Brooks had to talk loud, as Calloway
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 757
was hard of hearing — & their design thwarted. Brooks died in captivity — & Col. D'l
Boone used to say, that probably Brooks would have survived & returned, but for his
irascible conduct & getting himself constantly embroiled in difficulties. Not recollected
how James Calloway got away (Mrs. N. Boone don't recollect about his refusing to
carry the salt kettle) . He settled in Missouri, in Howard Co. — probably children
living — one, Stephen, in Platte or Buchanan Co. Jame Calloway has been dead 15 or
20 years — Came to Mo. several years after the Bocnes, was brother of Flanders &
Micajah.
Jesse Cofer, another of the captives subsequently returned — married a daughter of
Sam'l Boone (brother of D'l Boone) settled & died in Ky. probably Clark Co.
Nathaniel Bullock (not Nathan Bullitt as Kenton has it) was the name, as Col. N.
Boone has often heard it: Don't know what became of him.
Mr. & Col. N. Boone relate — that Black Fish sent Boone to fall a tree, & had him
cut notches in it, holding something like a quart, in which to salt the horses. Boone
got his hands blistered — & went & showed them to Black Fish (into whose family
Boone was adopted — but the particulars of which are not remembered by either Col.
N. or Mrs. Boone — but both are positive it was into Black Fish's family he was
adopted) — says "see — you are making a slave of me — you don't treat me like a son;
men warriors & hunters dont perform such menial services; in Ky. I had servants to
do such work." Black Fish said it was true — & he need not work. Both Black Fish
& his squaw treated him very kindly — seemed to think much of them: They had two
children — girls, both small, names Pom-me-pe-sy & Pim-ne-pe-sy, the former some four
or five years old, ill tempered & hateful; the youngest a mere child, perhaps a year old,
a kind temper, & Boone used to nurse it frequently, & with his silver trinket currency,
would buy maple sugar & give it to the children, who would smilingly call it 'molas.
To show old Black Fish's kindness, as well as to show an Indian's idea of taste, Col.
D. Boone used to say?, many a lump of sugar old Black Fish (some 50 years old,
perhaps not quite so much) would suck awhile in his mouth, take it out & give it to
his son Boone, — whom he always addressed as "my son." The name given him by
Black Fish signified "The Big Turtle" (in Indian, as Moses Boone recollected, Shel-
tow-y) .
In Spring as the grass was getting up nicely, Boone asked Black Fish for permission
to hopple & turn out his poney in the prairie? "Yes, after a little," replied the Chief.
In half an hour after, he came to Boone, told him he could go & turn out his horse.
Boone went, & soon discovered several Indians secreted flat in the old grass & dry
weeds & brushes, with their guns — plainly enough placed there by Black Fish's orders
to watch the prisoner & see if he evinced any disposition to run away. Boone pre-
tended not to have seen them, turned out his poney & went to whistling as unconcernedly
as if nothing had happened. He was thus watched two or three time, & finally was
suffered to go at liberty. He might have effected his escape much sooner than he
did, but as he had learned of the large Boonesborough expedition, he delayed till he
could learn more definitely concerning it & the time of its marching — once his poney
was missing — someone had taken it off, & he told Black Fish, who made reply that he
thought he was out in the range — reckoned he would come back again.
Indians thus borrow & use, without asking the owner, very frequently; & will not
tell of each other thus trangressing. Boone knew full well his poney had gone in the
same way, & only feared lest he should not be brought back in time to aid him in his
premeditated escape. After three or four weeks, Black Fish came & notified Boone
that his poney had got back. Boone forms ? he had been badly used, & his back was
758 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
very sore; but good care & attention soon restored him again. Nothing was further
said about this Indian borrowing.
Sometimes to while away time, Boone would go out into the field & volunteer to
aid his Indian Mother in hoeing the corn; Black Fish seeing which would say, "My
son, you need not work, Your Mother can easily raise enough for us all." Black Fish
would sometimes smooth over the dirt on the ground & mark out the geography of
the country, apparently to amuse Boone.
Wm. Hancock, who was a poor woodman, & discontented with his captivity & moody
(as he afterwards used to say) did'nt see how Boone could be whistling and contented
among the dirty Indians, when he was so melancholy.
The "worst act the Indians ever did 'Boone used to say," was their taking the salt
boilers, & learning ? them the way to to their towns & the geography of the Indian
country — & that they it resulted in a real good to the Kentuckians, though at first
they deemed it so great a disaster" — In shooting at a mark, he would purposely suffer
the Indians to beat him, that they might not be jealous, was permitted to hunt alone.
At length Black Fish & wife & a party went to the Scioto Licks & Salt Works —
made some salt there a few days. It was probably at the Point Creek town Jimmy
Rogers lived — a white man prisoner, who never abandoned the Shawanoes &C finally
moved with the portion that went to Mo. & raised an Indian family, some of his
children were educated — Got Boone to exercise his skill in gun making to stock a
gun for him, which he did. An Indian also got him to stock a rifle barrel — Boone
took it with him & did it in a rough substantial manner while at the Salt Licks. When
previously out a hunting he had saved & secreted a few charges of powder & ball for
the intended escape. Col. N. Boone thinks it was the second day on the way to Chilli-
cothe from the Salt Licks (near night as Mrs. Col. N. Boone well recollects hearing
Col. D'l Boone say) the Indians scared up a block of turkies, & chased some distance
after them, & lighted in trees & while busily engaged in shooting them — all the
Indians (number not recollected) had left the horses, Boone & the squaws & children
— when Boone concluded he would start for Ky., as the Indian army was then assemb-
ling— & cut the ropes & threw off the load of brass kettles — when his Indian mother
discovering, asked him what he was going to do? He said he was going to see his
wife. She said he must not do so, for Black Fish would be angry. He mounted his
poney dC laid on whip, when the squaws raised a loud hallooing, to give the alarm. He
was soon beyond hearing. Jimmy Rogers said (Whom Col. D'l Boone visited as well
as the Shawanoes of Mo., who first lived at Owen's Station, 12 mi. nearly west of St.
Louis, & afterwards onto the creek called the Burbees, which runs into the Merrimack
river within three miles of where a village of Union now is. This was not the clan near
New Madrid, unless these Mo. over emigrated from there. The remant of this band
went finally, after several removes to Kansas River) when Boone escaped he was at
first greatly afraid he had carried the gun he had stocked for him — but found it.
That the Indians followed Boone's trail some distance & returned, saying he would
get lost. But Rogers said he knew "better — that he was sure Boone would go as straight
as a leather string home."
Boone rode hard that evening & all night till about ten o'clock next morning, when
the poney gave out. He had stopped but a few moments, when the creatures legs
became so stiff he could scarcely move them: Took off the saddle, bridle & saddle
blanket & hung them up in a tree (not a hollow tree) — & went on afoot as rapidly
as he could, & that day crossed the Ohio (Col. N. B. thinks his father struck the
Ohio, a little above Maysville) — tied a couple of dry logs (very likely a standing dry
sapling, nearly rotted at the roots) tied together with a grapevine — placed gun &
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 759
clothes upon it, & swam over pushing his raft before him. The first night after
crossing the Ohio, wearied, he ventured to rest, & rapped himself up in his blanket,
& went to sleep, when he was awakened by something seizing one of his toes (having
taken off the moccasins, as usual) when he thought the Indians had him again — he
humped, & judged it was a wolfe or fox, by the noise it made in scampering off. He
had no more alarms. His feet getting scalded, by heat in walking, he peeled some
oak bark, jamed ? up & made some ooze, with which he washed his feet, & proceeded
the last day, somewhere not long after passing the Blue Licks, he killed a buffalo
with his new gun, cooked 6C ate a delicious meal, cut out the tongue & took it along
to present to his son Daniel whom he hoped to have found at Boonesboro.
APPENDIX B
JOHN BROWN
John Brown was perhaps the most notable proponent of separation and statehood.
For this role he was preeminently equipped: distinguished family connections, out-
standing military and civil achievements, superb educational training, affable disposition
and pleasing manner. Brown was studying at Princeton when the British Army
forced that college to close; he then enlisted in the Continental Army; soon became
an officer under LaFayette. Before the close of the War, he entered William and
Mary College, completing his course, then studied law in the office of Thomas Jefferson.
In 1783 came to Kentucky to practice law, settling at Danville, then the center of
the culture, society and politics of the District. In Danville he made friends quickly,
gained a lucrative legal practice, established an enviable reputation. The keenly in-
telligent French trader, Bartholomew Tardiveau, who arrived in Danville in May, 1789,
in a letter to his friend, St. John de Crevecoeur, French consul at New York, called
attention to Brown's prominence: "I find that he is held in great esteem. People em-
ployed him with confidence in his capacity as a lawyer before his journey to New York
but his absence has made him lose much of his practice. His friends want him to take
up a political career, in which they are of the opinion that he will cut a distinguished
figure. Competent people tell me that in Virginia he is inferior only to Mr. Madison —
that is all, my dear friend, that I have been able to find about him up to now, and
that is enough to make his acquaintance valuable."
Presumably, the people of Kentucky believed that John Brown was the man best
qualified to secure separation from Virginia and admission to the Union, as well as
the opening of the Mississippi River, because they sent him to the Virginia Assembly;
and in turn, for the same purpose, Virginia sent him to the Confederation Congress
in 1787.
During his absence from Kentucky, Brown's law practice was handled by his close
friend, Harry Innes. A letter from Innes to Brown, in New Work, runs: "I do not
think your business will suffer much i.e., the business now in court . . . you may rely
upon every exertion of mine to do you and your clients justice. ... I am induced
to think the court will give you every indulgence. I have publically offered assistance
to . . . your clients. . . . The idea of your absence hath caused the litigants to desist
suing even in the supreme court & the business to increase in the County Courts."
Kentucky elected Mr. Brown as her first representative to the New Congress in
1788 and again in 1790. He was sent as her first senator in 1792 and reelected until
1805 when he refused to run for public office again, refused to accept even high
presidential appointments.
760 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
John Brown throughout life, was a public-spirited citizen, interested not only in
politics, but in the commercial, cultural, and social advancement and happiness of his
adopted state. Politically, he was a disciple of Jefferson. Early a scholar — one of the
first members of Phi Beta Kappa — he continued a scholar throughout life. And he
was as elegant physically as mentally. Elegant indeed was he in person, with the
delicately carved features — the luminous brown eyes, the powdered hair, the fine lace
stock and the velvet coat. He lived as aristocratically as did a great Virginian planter.
judge Mcdowell
Another distinguished leader of the period was Judge Samuel McDowell, who
presided over all of the conventions save two, over the constitutional convention of
1792, and was chairman of the joint session of the two houses receiving the newly
inaugurated Governor Shelby the same year. Judge McDowell was a rugged Scotch
Presbyterian from the Valley of Virginia — a man of calm dignity and sterling integrity.
He was virtually indispensible to Kentucky during the critical period. Possessing a fine
manly physique, a strong, intelligent face, a grave and majestic bearing, Judge McDowell
was "in every position," writes Thomas Speed, "respected for his ability and reverenced
for his high personal qualities."
The people of both Virginia and Kentucky bestowed upon him numerous high
offices. The governor of Virginia had appointed him one of the three judges of the
newly established district court of Kentucky in 1783, at which time he removed his
wife, seven of his sons, and two of his daughters, settling ultimately in Danville. "The
weight of his character and the soundness of his patriotism," wrote John Mason Brown,
"had inspired in the statesmen of Virginia a feeling of security as to the moderation
and justice of the action that might be taken in the deliberative bodies of the District
of Kentucky and of the certainty that his opinions would greatly influence public con-
clusions. Some idea of his popularity can be gained by a consideration of election
returns. For instance, the votes of Mercer County for the convention of May 1788 were
as follows: Samuel McDowell, 275; John Brown, 240; Harry Innes, 213; John Jouett,
196; and Christopher Greenup, 125.
Attesting to his interest in the cultural and social progress of Kentucky was the
fact that Judge McDowell in December 1786 organized, at his home, the "Political
Club." This organization, to which many of the prominent lawyers, public officials,
military and commercial leaders of the district were elected, included on its roster the
names of Harry Innes, Christopher Greenup, John Brown, Thomas Todd, George Muter,
and Benjamin Sebastian. Humphrey Marshall, the Federalist leader and historian, had
been blackballed, and somehow James Wilkinson failed to become a member. "It
would not have been possible," writes John Mason Brown, "to assemble another body
within the district equal to these men in accomplishments, experience, and possession of
public confidence." Judge McDowell showed notable foresight in organizing such a
club in the new country.
JUDGE INNES
Judge Harry Innes, one of the most prominent of the state-makers, had also come
from Virginia. He was of a highly respected family, had been a schoolmate and life-
long friend of James Madison and had served Virginia with marked success in many
tasks during the War. He came to Kentucky after having been appointed by the
Virginia Legislature in 1784 to succeed Walker Daniel, killed by the Indians, as
attorney general for the Western District.
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 761
Arrived in Kentucky, Judge Innes took up residence in Danville, where he became
popular and prominent within a short time. He was genial, bright, kindly, impulsive,
and knightly. The portrait of him by Mathew Jouett, a portrait painted of him in
middle age, reveals an open, handsome face, that of one who lives well; large, honest
eyes; straight nose, somewhat pointed; bald from the forehead; good-natured mouth,
with full lips; chin well formed; neck large and fleshy, with fine white lace stock. But
he was far from being habitually composed. At times he became quite angry, yet he
readily forgave; was even willing to forgive Humphrey Marshall, who had spent a life-
time maligning and attempting to destroy him.
Judge Innes was preeminently a public-spirited man, interested in civic development
of all kinds, as is attested by the fact that he was a member of practically every impor-
tant board and committee for social, educational and commercial promotion. He was
decidedly a social creature, taking a genuine and lively interest in people; many confided
in him. Tardeveau, pictured him, on one occasion, as knight-errant of a lady in distress.
Innes enjoyed many warm friendships, that with John Brown being most notable.
Judge Innes was selected as a delegate to practically all of the conventions; in these
he was outstanding. All in all, he probably sought more persistently to secure free
passage for Kentucky goods down the Mississippi than did any other leader. A com-
plete summary of his arguments, denying Spanish right to close and setting forth the
necessity for opening this artery, is found in a letter written to John Brown in December
1787. "The navigation," he wrote years after to Wilson Cary Nicholas, "was all
important to us, our every thought bore upon it."
Judge Innes became disgusted with Congress when he learned, in 1787, that the
northern states had voted to close the Mississippi in return for commercial benefits to
the East, and wrote these statements in a letter to John Brown, December 7, 1787.
"You will discover a sentiment in the address which plainly leads to this point that if
our application is rejected we shall scarcely trouble Congress with a second deliberation
on this subject ... If we should be compelled to adopt other measures we shall stand
justified." This seems to be as far as Judge Innes, and, in fact, Kentucky went
toward adopting "other measures," in spite of Humphrey Marshall's charges. Spain,
of course, was eager for Kentucky to secede and join her. She made several overtures
in dispatches which naturally were sent to the leaders, one of whom was Judge Innes.
This fact was learned by Humphrey Marshall, who began a persection which lasted
even after Innes's death. Innes was, in fact, Marshall's chief object of persecution in
the "Spanish Conspiracy." However, his friends and the public in general remained
loyal. Even President Washington, apparently unaffected by it, appointed him the
first Federal judge of Kentucky and Congress refused to bring impeachment charges
later. Yet Judge Innes was deeply affected personally by the ceaseless and relentless
persecution, as is revealed in a letter of February 18, 1807, by his friend, Buckner
Thurston, United States Senator from Kentucky.
The principles of Innes were clear-cut. Polit'.caliy, he followed the Jefferson school.
He, along with most of the leaders of Kentucky had opposed the ratification of the
Federal Constitution, because of fear of losing the Mississippi River to Kentucky trade.
He also possessed the humanitarian principles of Jefferson; he was one of the few
members of the constitutional convention of 1792 who favored emancipation of the
slaves.
The historian, Richard Collins, closes his sketch of Judge Innes's life with this
tribute: "He was a polished gentleman in all relations of private and social life ... a
noble specimen of the old school, in dignified courtesy and varied intelligence.
14— Vol. n
762 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
JUDGE MUTER
Judge George Muter, who came to Kentucky toward the close of the Revolutionary
War as one of the three judges of the newly established District Court, became one of
the valuable builders of the commonwealth. He arrived in Danville distinguished with
military and naval service for Virginia. "His long service as Quarter-Master of
Virginia during the Revolution had made Judge Muter well-known to all the prominent
personages of that state," wrote John Mason Brown.
"He was eminently a connection link between the two peoples," continues Brown,
"and his patriotism was indisputable." His position as Judge naturally lent prestige
and made him prominent, but, in addition, Muter possessed a kindly, likeable per-
sonality, as well as marked ability. Immediately following his arrival he became inter-
ested in contributing to the safety and development of Kentucky. Together with
Brown, Innes, McDowell and Logan, he was made a member of practically every im-
portant public organization and committee. He was a member of all the conventions
from 1785 to 1790, being chosen president of the last; had, with Harry Innes, been
appointed by the convention of August, 1785, to carry to the Virginia Legislature the
petition begging separation; was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1792, as
well as an elector of that year. In 1785 Judge Muter had become Chief Justice of the
District Court, sitting in Danville. This office he held until 1792, when he was appointed
Chief Justice of the recently established Court of Appeals, continuing in that office
until 1805.
But, writes John Mason Brown, "he was vacillating as compared with the strong men
with whom he came in contact, easily influenced, as events proved, and neither wise
enough to keep counsel nor vigorous enough to permanently command the respect of
contending parties."
Judge Muter had begun his Kentucky career in Danville closely allied to the Jeffer-
sonians — Innes and Brown. However, he had come from the same locality in Virginia
as had the Marshalls, and, in the hands of Thomas or Humphrey, the poor man was
like putty. He betrayed a confidence — probably brow-beaten into it — of John Brown to
Humphrey Marshall, which was of grave import to the public, a breach of ethics which
Brown apparently considered serious. In this connection, it seems almost incredible that
Muter could have believed Brown guilty of involvement in a "Spanish Conspiracy" to
detach Kentucky from the Union.
Later, Judge Muter concurred in a decision concerning ownership of land which
greatly incensed the public. However, shortly thereafter, he reversed his position.
Strangely enough Humphrey Marshall was intensely interested in the case, in fact got
to the United States Senate because of his militant stand against the first decision, as
a member of the Legislature. Whether or not Humphrey helped Judge Muter, in this
instance, to change his mind is not known. This can be said, however: Facing one of
the overwhelming Marshalls was a trying experience indeed, but being confronted by
two, and that two, Colonel Thomas and the redoubtable Humphrey, was a cataclysmic
adventure.
Never in his life had George Muter husbanded his economic resources, though having
given without stint his entire energy and time to the public service. In the year 1805,
superannuated and senile, he was induced by certain influential members of the General
Assembly to resign from the bench, upon the promise that a pension would be granted.
The ensuing session granted a pension of $300.00 per annum; however, the session
following repealed it, thus leaving the helpless old man destitute, alone and without a
home. The Governer, Christopher Greenup, a friend and associate of many years,
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 763
vetoed the repeal bill, recounting the generous services of the aged jurist to Kentucky
and charging the Legislators with violation of moral obligation. Governor Greenup's
strong message was of no avail, however; the niggardly Assembly easily mustered a two-
thirds majority to pass over the Governor's veto.
At that point, another old friend and colleague, Judge Thomas Todd, recently
appointed to the Federal Supreme Bench, took in Judge Muter, sustained and main-
tained him.
ISAAC SHELBY
Isaac Shelby came to Kentucky to live in the year 1783. He was welcomed as
a hero; he was mourned at death as a hero; and he was no less throughout life. Had
he received no other appellative than, "Hero of King's Mountain," Isaac Shelby would
have held a place in American history. But he was hero of many engagements: He was
quite as gifted in the legislative hall, in the executive chamber, on the business mart
and on the civic board as on the battle field; one of the most progressive and successful
industrialists of his day, and, added to these, he was an ideal specimen of the practical
noble man among men.
In stature, Governor Shelby was not unlike his Welch ancestry: stocky, thick, powerful
body, tending toward corpulency in late years; clear blue eyes and sandy hair; com-
plexion very ruddy from robust out-of-door living. Yet his features were strongly
marked; a largeness of the eye, an arch of the brow, a ruggedness of visage and a
quiet strength of countenance, marking him decidedly as Isaac Shelby.
His body was strong, and his constitution amazingly hardy, capable of enduring
protracted exertions and extraordinary privations without noticeable fatigue; in fact, his
powers of endurance were remarkable.
His qualities of character were conspicuously harmonious with his physical traits:
mental energy, indomitable courage, unrelenting persistency, unshakable resolution,
sagacity, loyalty and magnanimity — these, joined with a personality habitually dignified
yet affable, kind and winning — these, together with an indefinable something called in-
dividuality were the personal attributes of Isaac Shelby.
Prominent from his advent, Shelby quickly became a leader in Kentucky: Chairman
of the convention, in Danville, of militia officers to consider means of protecting the
District and securing independence from Virginia, November, 1784; member of the con-
ventions of 1787, 1788 and 1789, and of the Constitutional Convention, of 1792; member
of the important Kentucky Board of War, together with Charles Scott, John Brown,
Harry Innes and Benjamin Logan, which was appointed by President Washington in
1791; trustee of Transylvania Seminary; member of the Kentucky Society for the
Promotion of Useful Knowledge; hero of the Battle of the Thames.
In 1817 Governor Shelby was proffered the post of War in the cabinet of President
Monroe, distinctly an honor, but one, which, because of advanced years, Shelby de-
clined. Nevertheless, he was Kentucky's representative in 1818 in the convention with
the Chickasaw Indians, which resulted in the acquisition of the territory known as the
Jackson Purchase.
With becoming modesty and magnanimity he steadily disclaimed credit for notable
services in connection with the battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens, and vital
services in the War of 1812. With fine magnanimity and loyalty, Governor Shelby
defended George Rogers Clark, Harry Innes and William Henry Harrison, defended
them in crises when it seemed that their reputations would be irreparably villified
and blackened.
764 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
That the leaders of Kentucky selected Isaac Shelby as first governor of Kentucky
was natural; that he conducted himself in that office with a dignity, sagacity, fore-
bearance, justice and gentility resembling that of George Washington was not an
accident; because Isaac Shelby too, possessed elements of greatness.
The historian, Lewis Collins, wrote: "He was the model of an elevated citizen, whether
at the plow, in the field, or in the cabinet."
APPENDIX C
GOVERNOR SLAUGHTER'S MESSAGE TO THE LEGISLATURE
DECEMBER, 1817
Fellow citizens of the Senate, and House of Representatives:
In meeting you again, it is with sincere pleasure I have to congratulate you and our
constituents on the flattering prospect of our public affairs, the rapid progress of our
agriculture, commerce and manufactures, and the general improvement of our country.
We are assembled under a free and happy constitution to consult for the common
good, to redress grievances, to remedy defects in the existing laws, and to adopt such
measures as are best calculated to advance the welfare of the commonwealth. Coming
from every part of the state, you must be better acquainted with the various interests
of the community, and upon your superior wisdom and information, I chiefly rely for
a due attention to the wants and concerns of our fellow-citizens.
Persuant to a resolution of the last legislature, I enclosed to our distinguished fellow-
citizen James Madison, late president of the United States, their address approbatory
of his public services, and private worth, and have received his answer in April last,
which I have now the honor to lay before you.
Agreeably to another resolution passed at the last session, I opened a correspondence
with the governors of Ohio and Indiana touching the difficulties experienced by our
citizens in regaining their slaves who escape into those states, and am happy to inform
you, that their answers evince a disposition on the part of their respective states to
remove as far as practicable every cause of complaint, and to maintain with Kentucky
the most friendly relations. A copy of the correspondence with each state is herewith
transmitted.
The resolution respecting an armory, I am not yet prepared to comply with, but have
been endeavouring to collect information, and hope to be able to make a full communi-
cation on this subject, on some future day of your present session.
The pecuniary affairs of the penitentiary are, I understand, in a prosperous state,
but the report of the auditor which will be shortly laid before you, will give a satis-
factory view of its concerns. There is on hand a considerable quantity of raw materials,
and manufactured articles. Owing to the tardiness of the sales, the keeper has been
obliged to advance money for the purchase of materials, for refunding which, immediate
provisions ought to be made. The present agent with my advice has removed the
articles manufactured to the neighboring towns to be vended, a measure which promises
a speedy reimbursement of monies advanced and much advantage to the public. The
condition of the building demands your particular and immediate attention. It is
believed to be insecure, and to require repair and enlargement. I submit to your
serious consideration whether it is just or expedient to sentence offenders to ad-
ditional confinement who are tempted by the state of the building, and negligence of
the guards to make their escape. Would it not be better to secure more vigilance on
the part of the guards, by subjecting them to some punishment or penalty for neglect
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 765
of duty. This institution, which originated in a spirit of philanthrophy, and a liberal,
and enlightened humanity, ought not to be abandoned, or neglected. It has too long
received the approbation of not only the wise and benevolent of our own state, but
of most of our sister states; and must be viewed with a partial and benignant eye,
wherever the life of rational, immortal man is duly estimated. I trust therefore that
the legislature will repair, improve, and extend the building, and revise the regulations
and management of the institution so far as it respects the reformation of offenders,
one of the leading objects of the system. Some provision ought to be made for
furnishing them with bibles, and books of morality, and for giving them religious
and moral instruction. I would also advise that such of those unfortunate victims of
folly and vice, who learn good trades, and conduct themselves well, should be entitled
upon their discharge to a small compensation out of the profit of the institution to
purchase tools, and enable them to commence business. Such a provision will probably
produce both industry and amendment. But little good is done if the offenders go
forth into the world unredeemed in any degree from the depravity for which they were
cut off from their social state.
I beg leave again to bring into view, the subject of education, one of the first im-
portance that can engage your attention, whether we regard its influence on human
happiness or the permanency of our republican system. Colleges, or universities, upon
a large scale require considerable funds, and cannot be numerous — The Transylvania
University, which had its origin in the liberality of our parent state, will soon, it is
believed hold an eminent rank among the institutions of learning in the United States.
I am not informed whether its funds are adequate or not, but think it would be wise
in the legislature to extend to this institution every aid necessary to place it on the
most respectable footing. It is hoped and expected that this university, situated in one
of the most healthy and delightful parts of the United States, will render it not only
unnecessary for the youth of our own state to be sent to distant colleges, but invite the
young men of other states to finish their education here. There are considerations in
favor of a good system of education, which strongly address themselves to our pride
as a state. It should be remembered that Kentucky is the first member of the federal
union that emerged from the western wilderness, and that she now holds a very high
standing in the national government. And shall it be said that she is unfriendly or
even indifferent to learning? Let it rather be our boast that Kentucky is as famed
for science and the arts, as for the valor and patriotism of her citizens.
To establish a perfect method of education, has long been considered, by the most
enlightened friends of mankind, the best means of rendering a people free and happy.
I therefore recommend to you, to arrange and adopt a plan extensive, diffusive, and
convenient to every portion of the community. I would advise that all the settled parts
of the state be divided into school districts, equal to five or six miles square, through
the agency of the county courts, or in some other manner to be prescribed; a school to
be established in each district free to all poor children, and to be supported, if not en-
tirely, in part, at the public expense. We have many good schools, but nothing short
of carrying education to the neighborhood of every man in the state can satisfy the
just claims of the people, or fulfil the duty of the government. Few people are able
to board their children from home, and unless schools are established conveniently to
them, their education will be neglected. The distribution of schools in every neighbor-
hood, would be attended with many advantages; they will not only improve the mind
and moral habits of the youth, but will give more permanency, and a more settled
character to our population. They will diffuse much useful instruction among all classes
of people, and introduce a taste for learning and information. They will develop the
766 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
mental riches of the commonwealth. The experience of the world has proved, that
genius is not confined to any particular order of men; but Providence, in bestowing
her choicest gift, intelligence, as if to mortify the pride and vanity of those, who from
their birth and fortune would exalt themselves above their fellow men, delights to
raise up the brightest ornaments of humanity from the most obscure and humble con-
ditions of life. To instruct and improve the rising generation, is among the first duties
of every American statesman. The American people in establishing their independence,
and republican form of government, have done much; but much more remains to be
done. These states are but recently transplanted from the nursery of freedom, and al-
though in a thriving and promising condition, they have not acquired such maturity and
strength, as no longer to need the care and skill of the political husbandman. To give
success to this experiment of freedom, the youth of our country should be qualified to
understand and enjoy its blessings. In vain have our ancestors bled; in vain did
they hazard everything upon the issue of the revolutionary contest; in vain has our
country been distinguished by the most sublime and elevated patriotism, if the in-
estimable boon which they achieved is to be lost by a neglect of the means necessary to
its preservation and progress. While the utility and importance of education is generally
admitted, yet either because the beneficial effects appear remote or universal, the sub-
ject does not seem to excite that lively interest and zeal which are usually awakened
by questions of a local or personal character. When we reflect that this government
has no need of a standing army to sustain or enforce its authority; but for its efficiency,
essentially reposes on the patriotism and intelligence of the great body of the people,
how obvious is the necessity of providing a system of instruction calculated to improve
the minds and moral habits of the rising generation.
Although our government, in its form and structure, is a departure from a simple
democracy, yet it is a government of the people, instituted for their benefit, and
essentially dependent on their will. It is true that every excitement of popular feeling
and passion is not to be considered the will of the community; but the deliberate sense
of the people cannot, ought not to be resisted. The American statesman, who have
formed our system of government, warned by the fate of the tumultuous democracies
of antiquity, long since buried beneath the depotism of the old world, have wisely
constructed the vessel of state so as to prevent its being driven by every popular blast
from its proper course, by interposing checks and balances, to stay the intemperance
and rashness of the moment, and to give time for the sober reason of the community to
be exercised. To protect the weak against the strong, the minority against the majority,
and to secure all and every one against violence, injustice and oppression, the people in
their highest sovereign character assembled in convention for that special purpose, have
by a written constitution established certain rules and principles, and erected barriers
to restrain and limit their own powers, and the powers of all those appointed under
its authority; and these rules, principles, and barriers, they have solemnly pledged their
faith to each other to observe inviolable, until the constitution itself shall be altered or
abolished. By our constitution, powers of government are confided to the several de-
partments, or bodies of magistracy, legislative, executive, and judicial, all deriving their
authority mediately or immediately from the constitution, and intended to check and
restrain each other from transcending their appropriate limits. Ours is not a simple
democracy, in which the people exercise, in their own persons, the powers of administra-
tion; their numbers and dispersed situation render it impracticable; but a representative
government, in which they have confided to men chosen by themselves, for short and
limited periods. The senate, by their age, experience, and term of service, is made a
check on the house of representatives, and the executive on both; the two houses are
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY • 767
in turn checks upon the executive. The judiciary is in some respects a check upon the
legislative and executive departments, and yet responsible to them for misconduct. These
several bodies of magistracy are so many pillars or corner stones of the temple of free-
dom, the constitutional strength and independence of each one of which are essential
to its preservation. This is an improvement in the science of government, which
originated in the most profound wisdom and knowledge of human nature. Every man
who will examine himself, must confess that he is often led by passion and prejudice
into errors the most gross and extravagant; we acknowledge too that neighborhoods,
counties, and nations are liable to err for a moment, from the same cause. If every
impulse of any community was to be carried into full effect, there would be in such a
state, neither confidence nor safety. And hence, the security afforded by the checks
and balances I have mentioned; for which we are chiefly indebted to the wisdom and
patriotism of the statesmen of our own country.
The distinguished author of "Notes on the State of Virginia," in speaking on the
subject near the close of our revolutionary contest, says "that the concentrating all
the powers of government into the same hands, is precisely the definition of despotic
government, and that 173 despots would be as oppressive as one. An elective des-
potism, says this enlightened statesman, was not the government we fought for; but
one which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of
government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy,
as that no one could transcend their limits, without being effectually checked and
restrained by the other. These checks cannot however operate as restraints upon the
deliberate sense of the people; they can only produce a pause, and give them time for
consideration; but if, after these checks have, with firmness, and fidelity, been inter-
posed according to the spirit of the constitution, the people are still dissatisfied, their
deliberate will legitimately exercised, must and ought to prevail. Fortunately for
our republic there is reason to hope, that a little time will generally be sufficient to
correct the errors to which we are liable. When we reflect how much the very existence
of our government depends on the virtue and intelligence of the people, and for how
many ages the friends of freedom, and human happiness have been struggling to devise
some form of government alike secure against tyranny and anarchy, how indispensable
is it to diffuse information, and qualify those who are to succeed us, to understand the
plan and principles of government, furnished us by our revolutionary sages. Without
intelligence the people never can be safe against the delusions to which they are exposed
from the violence of party spirit, and the arts and intrigues of designing ambition.
Deeming this subject of deep interest, in every respect in which it can be presented, I
would suggest the propriety of appropriating a share of the dividends on bank stock,
with such taxes as may be imposed on banks and corporations, with the lands stricken
off to the state and forfeited, together with such as may be escheated to the common-
wealth, to raise and constitute a school fund. There is reason to believe that a large
quantity of land, the property of the commonwealth, is now held by individuals, or
unsettled: I would therefore again recommend a revision of the law of escheats, and
the appointment of escheators. It is probable that in some instances land liable to
escheat is held by innocent purchasers: in such cases it would be equitable to release
the right of the state upon reasonable terms.
A state library, at the seat of government, would be very useful and convenient.
The members of the legislature, public officers and judges, who attend the courts
held at Frankfort, ought not to be entirely dependent on the private libraries of
gentlemen of the bar, and other citizens. The surplus reports of the decisions of the
court of appeals belonging to the commonwealth might be sold or exchanged for
768 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
books. This fund with a small annual appropriation would probably be sufficient.
I regret the necessity of once more pressing on your attention the anti-republican
and highly criminal practice of selling offices, which is becoming too common and
indeed fashionable. Shall the public offices in the republic of Kentucky be an article
of sale in the market, or the reward of qualifications and integrity? This is the
question to be decided. If this practice is sanctioned or even winked at, it will prove
that while we profess, that the road to public station, is open to all, the poor as well
as the rich, that they are in fact confined exclusively to the latter. The prevalence of
such practices, especially if countenanced, is evidence of the decline, if not of the
state, of the republican purity of the government. I therefore recommend a revision
of the laws against selling offices, and the enaction of severe penalities, and effectual
provisions to suppress this pernicious and illicit traffic.
The use of steam boats, in our larger rivers, seems likely to give a new spring to
the agriculture and commerce of the western country, and it is believed great advantages
would be derived from the use of them on our smaller streams, if some practicable
plan could be adopted to remove obstructions, and improve them. Whether this should
be done at the public expense, or by inducements held out to private individuals or
companies to undertake it, I submit to your better judgment. When it is considered
that most of our fertile lands are distant from the Ohio, and that we are dependent on
our smaller rivers for the transportation of the greater part of our surplus productions
to market, the improvement of their navigation seems to demand the serious consideration
and attention of the legislature. The state of our public roads, so important in facili-
tating communication between different parts of the country, and carrying our produce
to market, merits your notice. Experience has proved our plan for improving and
keeping them in repair to be radically wrong. I would suggest the expediency of keeping
them in repair by levy for the purpose, allowing each individual to pay in work on the
road for which he may be taxed. This mode has succeeded well in other states where
it has been tried. Of the provisions necessary, and proper on this subject, you will
decide.
I take the liberty to mention for your consideration, the expediency of taking some
immediate step, in cooperation with the general government, to extinguish the Indian
title to that part of our territory lying west of the Tennessee River. This tract of
country is very valuable, and important in a commercial view, and its settlement would
add much to the wealth, strength, and population of the state.
I felicitate you and my fellow citizens generally on the harmony of opinion that
seems to pervade our nation. In the language of President Monroe, discord does not
belong to our system of equal rights, and equal justice. Every honest and liberal man
must rejoice at the prospect of a political jubilee, in a deliverance from the despotism
of party names and feuds, which have so long distracted the public councils, and poisoned
social intercourse. "United we stand, divided we fall" was the motto of our ancestors,
who achieved our glorious revolution. Let us remember that ours is the only republic
on the globe, and that a union among ourselves is necessary to insure success to our
system. Let us therefore obliterate party spirit and unite our efforts to give strength,
and maturity to our republican institutions. That we should occasionally divide on
important questions, which frequently occur, is to be expected. Collisions of opinion
is often useful in eliciting truth, by able discussions to which it gives rise. The American
people were nearly equally divided on the question of adopting or rejecting the federal
constitution; but this difference of opinion was not made a ground for eternal pros-
cription or party division. Some difference of opinion occurred with regard to the
national bank, the navy, and many other questions which have since arisen. In the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 769
progress of this government, new and important measures often produce an honest
difference of opinion, which ought to be tolerated with the most charitable indulgence.
Most of these subjects have had their day, and if we take a retrospect of the history
of parties, and public men, in the United States, and test them by public sentiments
as now settled, all will be found to have been partly right, and partly wrong. None
can claim an exemption from error. And shall rational men, citizens of a free state,
be divided by the mere magic of unmeaning names and terms? A party organized under
any particular name merely for party or personal objects is dangerous in our republic,
and its spirit is despotism. In order to preserve the accountability of public men, a
fundamental principle of a free government, it is necessary that the people should be
in a situation to pass an impartial judgment upon public measures, and the conduct of
public men. Influenced by considerations of this nature, and a spirit of conciliation,
I have to assure you of my cordial cooperation, in all measures calculated to promote
the happiness, and prosperity of our common country.
In closing my communication, I invite you to join me, in returning thanks to the
Author of all good, for the abundant crops, peace and happiness with which our state
and nation are blessed; and let us implore Him to extend to His kind and protecting
care to our southern brethren now struggling for freedom and independence. As re-
publicans we cannot be indifferent to their cause. That they ought to be independent
of the powers of Europe, nature herself has decreed. From the school of freedom
which we have established, there is reason to hope they will learn to institute republican
forms of government; and although it may not be necessary or expedient for us to
participate in their contests, let us beseech the same kind Providence that watched over
us in times of difficulty and trial, to crown their efforts with success.
GABRIEL SLAUGHTER.
Frankfort, December 2, 1817.
Niles' Register, Vol. XIII, pp. 386-389, February 7, 1818.
APPENDIX D
DEBATE ON EDUCATION— CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1849
Common Schools
Mr. Taylor, from the committee on education, made the following report, which, on
his motion, was referred to the committee of the whole, and ordered to be printed.
Article ____
Sec. 1. "The diffusion of knowledge and learning among men being essential to
the preservation of liberty and free government, and the promotion of human virtue
and happiness, it shall be the duty of the general assembly to establish, within ____ years
next after the adoption of this constitution, and forever thereafter keep in existence,
an efficient system of common schools throughout this commonwealth, which shall be
equally open to all the white children thereof.
Sec. 2. The fund called and known as the school fund, consisting of $1,225,768.42,
secured by bonds given by the state, and payable to the board of education, and
$73,500 of stock in the Bank of Kentucky, also the sum of $51,223.29, being the
balance of interest on the school fund for the year 1848, over and above the charges
against that interest for said year; all of which said sums of money and stock, and
the interest and dividends accruing thereon and therefrom, be, and the same is hereby,
770 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
set apart, dedicated, declared to be, and shall remain, a perpetual fund; the principal
of which shall never be diminished by legislative appropriation or enactment. The in-
terest thereof, together with any other fund that may arise by taxation, heretofore or
hereafter imposed by the general assembly in aid of common schools, shall be inviolably
applied and devoted to the creation, support, and encouragement thereof in this common-
wealth, for the equal benefit of all the children therein, whose instruction shall be pro-
vided for by law; and no law shall be made authorizing said fund, or any part thereof,
to be diverted to any other use or purpose whatsoever, than that to which the same is
herein before dedicated.
Sec. 3. The interest arising from the fund in the second section of this article men-
tioned, as also any sum which may have arisen, or may hereafter arise from taxation
imposed from the purposes aforesaid or otherwise, shall, in any system of common
schools which the general assembly may establish, be distributed among the several
counties, in proportion to the number of children therein.
Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the investment
of the sum of $51,223.29, in the second section of this article mentioned, in some safe
and profitable manner, the interest upon which shall be applied as in said second sec-
tion directed.
Sec. 5. Whenever, for the period of one year, there shall remain unused of the fund
set apart and made applicable by the second section of this article to the establishment
and support of common schools, the sum of ten thousand dollars, it shall be the duty
of the governor to fund the same, which shall constitute a portion of the permanent
fund for the support of common schools; the interest arising thereon only to be ap-
plied in aid thereof, as in the second section of this article mentioned: Provided,
That if any county have failed to organize common schools therein for five years, it
may, at any time after an organization, draw whatever sum then be due to it, provided
the same has not been funded as herein directed.
Sec. 6. The general assembly shall provide the ways and means for the prompt
payment and safe custody of the interest now due, or which may hereafter accrue
upon the bonds given by the state, and payable to the board of education.
Sec. 7. There shall be elected, by the qualified electors in this commonwealth, a
superintendent of public instruction, who shall, hold his office for __ years, and whose
duties and salary shall be prescribed and fixed by law."
* * *
Mr. Hardin: "I did expect to have heard from the chairman of the committee, (Mr.
Taylor,) some explanation of this system of common schools, and it may be that he
designs to give us one yet. I am as much a friend to the diffusion of education, and
perhaps, according to my means, have done as much towards that end, as any man in
the state; not only in educating those I feel bound from nature to educate — my own
children — but others. Yet I am unwilling to have any provision of this kind adopted
in the constitution. We have now packed it very heavy, and I do not believe it will
carry this additional load; particularly after what we did a few moments since, in
relation these commissioners to revise the laws. . . .
I desire to offer, for the consideration of the convention, a few facts and figures,
in explanation of my course upon this subject. When the United States distributed
to Kentucky her proportion of the surplus revenue, amounting to $1,433,757.39, Ken-
tucky pledged herself, that she would set apart $850,000 of that money for common
school purposes. The school fund, as a fund, never had an existence, except in that
mere pledge of the state to herself; there never was a dollar appropriated to tha
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 771
common school fund, except in this instance of $850,000. That money we borrowed
— we call it borrowing — for thirty-five years.
To raise the amount this section proposed would require a tax of near three cents.
Now, has there been any vote in the state upon this additional tax? I know of none;
and for my own part, I should prefer this matter should be left open to legislation.
It is not worth while for the convention to do all the legislation of the country right
at once. Let us leave some little for the legislature to do. Are you afraid of the
legislature? Surely not. If it is necessary, they will do it — if not, they will do as
much as is convenient. ...
On the three cents proposed to be levied, we would pay perhaps $1,500 or $2,000;
and yet we have never had a free school, nor will we ever have one in Nelson county;
and I will challenge any county in the state, to produce an equal population, with
only equal means, that expends more money on colleges and schools of various kinds,
that we do in Nelson county.
I have no opinion of free schools any how — none in the world. They are generally
under the management of a miserable set of humbug teachers at best. . . .
a. The worst taught child in the world, is he who is taught by a miserable country
school master; and I will appeal to the experience of every man here who ever went to
those schools, to say how hard it is, to get clear of the habits of incorrect reading and
pronouncing, they have contracted, at these country schools. For myself, I will say,
it cost me nearly as much labor as the study of the legal profession itself.
Now, Kentucky embraces over 40,500 square miles, and free schools cannot educate
scholars, upon a larger theatre than nine square miles; and if we scatter them all over
the state fairly, it would require a number of schools beyond what the means of the
state, after paying the expenses of government, could provide. Not less than 4,500
free schools would be required; or if we do not do that, the result will be, that the
poor and thinly peopled counties, although taxed for, would not have the benefit of
those free schools, that will be the result. I would not send a child to a free school,
and would rather pay for his education myself.
This thing will be manifestly unjust in its operations upon the country, as compared
with the towns and cities, on the Ohio border particularly. It is manifestly unjust as
to a large portion of the people of Kentucky, in a religious point of view. There is
Catholic population of perhaps sixty thousand in Kentucky. We know that they de-
vote more money, time, and energy, to the education of their children, than any other
religious denomination in the state; and I say it, because coming from a protestant, I
hope the admission will be taken as true. Do you believe that they will ever have the
management of our free school system? Do you believe that they will ever send their
children to a free school? No, never, never. I talked to the leading Catholics, and
they protested against it. And yet, some sixty thousand people are to be taxed for free
schools, to which they will never send a child.
Will the members of this convention, by the adoption of this report, fix its pro-
visions upon the people as long as this constitution shall last? You are to pay the in-
terest on the several sums amounting to something like $74,000 or $76,000, for all time
to come, if you do that. Then no matter how unpopular or how objectionable it may be
to the people, they cannot get rid of it without calling another convention. I beg of
the convention to bear this in mind, and not put it in the constitution. Leave it open
to the legislature. In the name of God, are we to leave nothing to the legislature? . . .
Leave them a little to do — let them decide what shall hereafter be done as to these
free schools. I had far rather that this tax of three cents should be appropriated to
772 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
the endowment of colleges and academies, for the education of young men capable of
teaching, than see it thrown away, as is here proposed.
I am confident that the country will not approve of the system. It may be an ad-
vantage to the towns, but it will be a great burden on the country, to which they should
not be asked in justice to yield. The towns should remember, as the old saying goes
among the women, "if, when you go to market you expect to get meat, you must ex-
pect to get bones also"; and they must expect to get their share of inconveniences as
well as advantages, by living in town. I hope, therefore, we shall not adopt this report."
*»» ifc ^
Mr. Gholson: "I am as much in favor of common school education as any gentleman
of this floor, but it is well known that we have no school fund, unless we take it out of
the pockets of the people. If we put into this constitution the provision now before
us, the money will have to be raised by additional taxation; and to this I cannot consent.
On the subject of education, it cannot surely be that this convention will tax the
people against their will. Let us pass it by, and leave it to the people's representatives."
* * *
Mr. Proctor: "Sir, while we are making a constitution that confers on the people
the power of choosing all the officers of the government, both civil and political, how
important is it that we should also extend to them, as far as we can, the means by
which they may inform themselves as to the nature and responsibilities of those high
trusts thus confided to their charge. Much, Mr. President, has been said upon the
floor of this convention about the capacity of the people of Kentucky for self-govern-
ment; and while I believe that the people of Kentucky will compare with any upon
the globe for virtue, patriotism, and hospitality; and that they are perhaps, possessed
of more native genius, and fertility of intellect than any people who have ever lived
in any age or clime; yet, sir, the fact is not to be disguised, that there are a large
number of persons who are both ignorant and uneducated, and subject to be controlled
by the vicious and unprincipled. It appears by the males and females over the age of
five and under twenty years of age, 233,710 persons. Of this number, there were in
colleges and universities 1,419; in academies and grammar schools 4,906; in common
schools 24,641; making a total of 30,966, leaving over 200,000 children between the
ages of five and twenty not in school. And most deplorable of all, Mr. President, is
the fact, that there was at the same period of time in this proud old commonwealth of
ours, of which we boast so much, over forty thousand free white citizens over the age
of twenty years, who could neither read nor write; a fact that is not very flattering to
our vanity as Kentuckians.
If it is right that the people be educated — if it is right that the fund which the
people of the state have so generously voted to tax themselves with, for the purposes
of sustaining a system of common schools, should be sacredly applied to that purpose
— if sir, it is right that the money which was set apart to the state of Kentucky — by
the general government, and which was originally intended for the purposes of educa-
tion, should be applied to that purpose alone — why I ask, should we leave the matter
to the future control and management of the legislature? If the thing is right, why
should we not take the responsibility and act upon it? Why leave to others to do that
which we are required to do ourselves? Why put off the good work, a work in which
our children and our children's children are most deeply and most vitally interested.
Mr. President, there is no doubt this day — many a "mute Milton" in the mountains of
Kentucky, the energies and powers of whose mind have been repressed and checked
by "chill, penury, and want," yes sir, minds which if early cultivated, might have
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 773
"commanded the applause of listening senates" and who might have raised themselves
above the common level of mankind and have achieved honor for themselves and glory
for their country. But from the situation in which they have been placed, the grandeur
of nature has availed them nothing, and their mountain homes, which under the proper
state of intellectual improvement might have echoed the song of the poet, or the elo-
quence of the orator, has remained as a sterile and uncultivated waste.
Mr. President, I have thought it due to myself, and to those whom I represent, to
say this much. And sir, whatever may be the action of this convention, I shall console
myself by the reflection that in my humble efforts, in behalf of a system of common
schools, to the best of my ability, I have discharged my duty, to myself, my consti-
tuents and posterity."
;|; % %.
Mr. C. A. Wickliffe: "What has become of the school fund since that time, I do
not know. But I am opposed to adopting as a part of the constitution, this common
school system, sometimes called the free school system. I use the term common, as
opposed to individual or private schools.
If we have a school fund secured, and set apart by the legislature of the country,
I want to leave that fund to the disposition of the legislature for educational purposes."
* * *
Mr. Taylor: "The gentleman from Nelson (Mr. Hardin,) propounded to us a
singular question, one which I dare answer, and which I will make the record before
my answer. Said he, are you afraid to trust the legislature? — I am. He asked it
with great emphasis and confidence — I answer it in the same spirit — I am afraid to trust
the legislature; and the reasons for that distrust, I will give, drawn from legislative
records on this subject. . . .
In the year 1836 there had accumulated in the treasury of the United States about
twenty-eight millions of dollars beyond the demands against it, the most of which had
arisen from the sales of the public lands, the common property of the people. Con-
gress determined that large amount of surplus revenue should not lay there idle
and unproductive; nay, sir, fearing perhaps that it might be devoted to bad and sinister
purposes, passed an act ordering it to be distributed among the several states in the
ration of their representation in that body, and thus, sir, the most singular spectacle
was exhibited to the world, of a government making among the governed, a parental
distribution of twenty-eight millions of dollars which had accumulated in its coffers, a
spectacle never before seen, and which I fear will never be seen again, at once the
noblest and most cheering commentary upon free government, and the integrity and
justice of its administration.
Kentucky accepted her share upon the condition imposed by congress; and upon the
23rd day of February, 1837, passed an act in which I find the following section:
"Be it further enacted, That the profits arising from one million dollars of the surplus
revenue of the United States, deposited and to be deposited with the state by virtue
of the act of congress of the 11th of June 1836, be and is hereby set apart and forever
dedicated to founding and sustaining a general system of public instruction in this
?5
state.
Sir, to what nobler purpose could such a fund have been dedicated. The legislature
of Kentucky felt then as we now feel; being the just and proper reflex of public senti-
ment, what did the representatives of the people do? They set apart one million dollars
and forever dedicated it to a general system of public instruction. . . .
774 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
Well, sir what has become of this fund and of its accumulations? Permit me to
read from the report of the superintendent of public instruction:
"In the midst of such circumstances as these, the state of Kentucky found herself
embarked in an extensive system of internal improvements, designed to develop her
resources and increase the general wealth. The funds necessary to carry on her exten-
sive operations, were raised by the public credit, exhibited in the form of state bonds,
which were issued and sold to a large amount; and in order to sustain the credit of these
bonds, and provide the means for the regular payment of interest accruing on them,
and the final discharge of the bonds themselves, a sinking fund was created, and a
large portion of the proceeds of the taxes, annually handed over to the commissioner
of that fund. The bonds held by the board of education represented $850,000, which
the state having first consecrated to the cause of education, subsequently used in prose-
cuting its plans of internal improvement, the board of education stood, in regard to
the bonds it thus held, precisely in the relation of any other fair holder of these internal
improvement bonds; unless, indeed, the peculiar nature and origin of the school fund,
thus invested, should have given a peculiar sacredness to the debt thus held by that
board. Yet, it is most painful to be obliged to state, that the legislature of the state,
for the year 1844-45, took a view of this matter so entirely different, that by the 4th
section of the act, approved February 10, 1845 — chapter 264, of the laws of that session
— it required all the state bonds by the governor of the commonwealth, and to be, by
him, burn in the presence of the high officers of state. As if to mock the great cause
which had thus been betrayed, the act proceeded to declare, that lists should be made
out of the evidences of debt thus burnt, and that these lists, though deprived by the
act itself of all value in the way of delivery, transfer, or assignment, and practically
robbed of all advantage, thenceforth, from the sinking fund, which had been created
to sustain and finally discharge just such bonds, should, nevertheless, be held and taken,
as in the place of the bonds that had been burnt, and be as sacred as they had been.
Practically, that is, sacred enough to be burnt themselves, whenever the exigences of all
public credit might seem to render such a proceeding desirable against the defenceless
creditors."
So sir, we see this fund was first dedicated to the improvement of the head and
heart, the morals and the intellect of the country, to the noblest of all improvements —
to the accumulation of that wealth "which taketh no wings and flyeth not away" — of
which no adverse fortune can ever deprive us, and against which no commission of bank-
ruptcy can ever issue. "Who so knoweth the things of a man, pave the spirit of the
man that is in him?" The legislature have not spread on the record the reasons which
induced them to order those bonds to be burnt. They were afraid, I infer, that they
would be put in market. They directed them to be listed, and if the auditor's office
should be burned, the tangible evidences of this large debt to the children of the state
would be gone; there are no bonds as I understand in existence. Has the interest on
this eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars been paid, and kept ready (to use the
language of the act of 1837) for abstraction? No sir. On the 20th day of December,
1848, a bond for $308,768.42, being the arrears of interest due upon said $850,000,
was executed by the state. There is also $51,223.29 of interest due for the year 1848.
So it will be seen that the interest has not been paid; and this large interest bond of
$308,768.42 is payable at the pleasure of the legislature. Should not, I ask, the people
be justly jealous of the legislature? Have they not a right to be so on this subject;
and being so, I as one of the friends of education, am for placing in the constitution
which we are now forming a clause, dedicating this great fund to this still greater
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 773
cause. It is the honor enough to be a delegate on this floor; but it is a still higher
honor to have been instrumental in securing this fund to the glorious cause of education.
Mr. President, I threaten no gentleman on this floor with his constituents — I point
no one to the reckoning which will be made with him in reference to the custody and
use of this great fund. Home, sir; 'tis the most beautiful and fascinating word in the
English language, doubtless on account of its associations — grouping within its circle,
wife, children, and friends. I dare any man here to go home and look the mother of
his children in the face, and tell her, who is the partner of his joys, his troubles, and
anxieties, that he opposed the constitutional devotion and security of this money for
the education of her children. I want every mother to know that if the father of her
children shall be taken away, that there is a fund set apart by the constitution of her
country, for their education — that though they are indeed orphans, yet their moral and
intellectual culture has been provided for by the state, whose rulers they are to in a
few short years. Yes, gentlemen, when you shall return home, and sit down at your
own firesides, rendered festive by your presence, and secure and happy by your presence,
when your children — the buds and blossoms along the pathway of human life — shall be
throwing their little arms around your neck, and telling you, in their artless simplicity,
the little domestic incidents that have occurred in your absence, can you, in such an
hour, tell the wife and mother that you have had an opportunity of providing a system
of schools for them, and have not done it? Will you throw over this sunshine of the
heart the pall of neglected and violated social obligation and duty, by your failure to
protect and secure this fund from legislative rapacity and duplicity?"
Mr. Root: "Here are assembled a hundred wise men, not of the east, but of the
west, engaged in a work which is to affect the destinies, for good or evil, of the people
of this commonwealth, perhaps for a century to come. They have the great public
interests in their hands. Will they let the opportunity pass of acting in accordance
with it? Will they do it? Is there a man here who is prepared to do it? I believe
that the people are prepared for a general system of education. I believe, according
to the report of the honorable chairman of the committee on education, we ought to
dedicate that entire fund to the founding of a system of general education. I think
the people will concur in the adoption of that measure, and I believe that every man
who votes for it will be hailed by his constituents as a benefactor of his race.
Here we have a learned body of men, understanding the great interests of the
commonwealth; now strike for the interest of your constituents, and my word for it,
if you do die politically in the attempt to do the people good, your praises will be
echoed, and your names eternized, when a new generation shall arise and call you
blessed."
* * *
Mr. Bowling: "The fund called and known as the school fund, consists of $1,-
225,768.42, secured by bonds given by the state, and payable to the board of educa-
tion; $72,500 of stock in the Bank of Kentucky, and $51,223.29, balance of interest
of the school fund for the year 1848, making, in the aggregate, the sum $1,350,491.71.
The interest upon this fund, on which the state pays five per cent, amounting to
$67,524.58, when added to the two cent tax voted by the state upon each $100 worth
of taxable property, which amounts to $56,000, would constitute an annual school
revenue of $125,524.58. This sum when divided among 192,999 children, the total
number of the commonwealth, would give to each per annum, 64 cents only. At first
blush it would appear that a sum so inconsiderable was too small to lay even the
776 ASESQUI-CENTENNIAL
corner stone of this benign system. Yet a further enquiry will demonstrate its suf-
ficiency to perpetuate an efficient system of free schools in every commonwealth, for
nearly five months in every year. Allowing an area of six miles square to a school
district, it would require, in the whole state, twelve hundred and fifty teachers; whose
services at $20 per month, (and that amount, when it was known to be certain, at
the end of the session, would procure good ones,) for five months, would amount to
$125,000 — a sum only $1,475.42 over and above the annual school revenue — so that
if the state were to seal hermetrically, her coffers to the cries of her children for
mental bread and light which shineth in darkness, the system of free schools would
find an efficient basis in the national donation, and the charity voted by the people,
if once this holy fund was secured against the fingers of a time-serving legislature.
It is my honest conviction that the people desire that a system of free schools should
be fixed in the constitution. It has been the fashion of gentlemen in this hall to vol-
unteer prognoses as to what would gain votes for the new constitution, or militate
against its reception by the people. But, sir, let these hundred chosen delegates go
home and tell the anxious thousands that will greet their return, that a part of our
labors here, insures to the descendants of this land of heroes and of song, the keys
to the temple of knowledge. That henceforth, under the new organization, schools
are to spring up in every neighborhood, and to be as free as the gush of waters from
the mountain rock. In the beautiful language of my friend from Mason, (Mr. Taylor,)
— who is indeed imbued with the spirit of the beautiful — that they will arise like fire-
flies at summer sunset, giving life and hope to each other — light to the young, hope to
the middle-aged, and consolation to the old.
Tell them that the mountains and the valleys and the plains of this heavenly heri-
tage are to be studded with school houses, which like the temples of the living God,
are to be free to all, without money and without price. Tell the children of the poor
and unfortunate that hope heretofore, that mystic shadow of good, which receded
as they advanced, and whose home was fabled terminus of the rainbow has been
made to receive substantive proportions and to become a smiling reality.
Tell them that fountains of living water have been opened up, in which the budding
desire for knowledge may lave its thirst, and where all are invited to come and par-
take freely. Let this be told there sir, and a voice redolent of thanksgiving and bene-
diction will go up from half a million of the best of our people, to the God of the
Widow and the fatherless."
-fc *r t»
Mr. C. A. Wickliffe: "I subscribe in the main to all that has been said, or can be
said, in favor of the necessity and the importance of such a duty."
* * *
Mr. T. J. Hood: "But as a last argument by the learned gentleman from Nelson,
(Mr. Hardin,) against any constitutional provision, securing and establishing the school
fund heretofore set apart, we are met with the startling annunciation that there is no
school fund; that as most it is but a debt which the state owes to herself, and which
she may at any time cancel; that the money has all been expended, and so, in truth,
and in fact, there is no school fund. That is, when the argument is analyzed and
translated into plain English, (about which we have heard so much to-day,) we are to
be told that the dedication of $850,000, some years ago, to common school purposes,
and its subsequent investment in state bonds, bearing interest, so that the fund might
become productive, and the schools sustained, without trenching upon or destroying
the principle, was all a splendid farce, and to amuse and delude the people — while the
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 777
money was being sunk in the bottoms of your rivers, and spread along your roads in
various works of internal improvement; and now, sir, when the play is through, and
the money all gone, the delusion is to be brushed away, and the eyes of the people to
be opened to the fact that there is no school fund. This is a system of spacious reasoning
which, I trust, the great state of Kentucky will not subscribe to. Sir, those bonds were
executed in good faith, and the honor and credit of the state were pledged to their
payment, and to the payment of the interest upon them. The character of every citizen
is, to some extent, identified with the honor and good faith of the state, and Kentucky
will not, in my humble opinion, be true to herself and her past distinguished reputa-
tion, if she does not fully redeem the pledge given by these bonds to the poor children
of her citizens. She must either pay those bonds or repudiate them. There is no other
alternative. If she should choose the latter, then I confess the rising generation will
be without a remedy. But what becomes of the fair fame of this good old common-
wealth? Sir, Kentucky will not repudiate those bonds or any other honest debts she
has ever contracted."
^ >^ >s<
Mr. C. A. Wickliffe entered into some further explanations, and then withdrew his
amendment (with which Mr. Barlow's also fell,) and submitted a modified amendment,
as follows:
"The capital of the fund, called and known as the common school fund, consisting
of $1,225,768.42, for which bonds have been executed by the state to the board of
education, and $73,500 of stock in the Bank of Kentucky; also the sum of $51,223.29,
balance of interest on the school fund for 1848, unexpended; together with any sum
which may hereafter be raised in the state, by taxation or otherwise, for purposes of
education, shall be held inviolate, for the purpose of sustaining a system of common
schools; the interest and dividends of said fund, together with any sum which may be
produced by taxation, may be appropriated in aid of common schools, but for no other
purpose. The general assembly shall invest said $51,223.29 in some safe and profitable
manner, and any portion of the interest and dividends of said school fund, which may
not be needed in sustaining common schools, shall be invested in like manner. The
general assembly shall make provision, by law, for the payment of interest of said school
fund: Provided, that each county shall be entitled to their proportion of the income
of said fund, and if not called for school purposes, it shall be reinvested for the benefit
of each county, from time to time."
Mr. Turner moved the previous question, and the main question was ordered to
be now put.
The amendment of the gentleman from Nelson was then adopted.
15— Vol. II
Stortnrg
APPENDIX E
GOVERNORS OF KENTUCKY
Isaac Shelby, June 4, 1792.
James Garrard, June 1, 1796.
James Garrard, June 2, 1800.
Christopher Greenup, Sept. 5, 1804.
Charles Scott, Sept., 1808.
Isaac Shelby, Sept., 1812.
George Madison (a), Sept., 1816.
Gabriel Slaughter (b), Oct. 21, 1816.
John Adair, Sept., 1820.
Joseph Desha, Sept., 1824.
Thomas Metcalfe, Sept., 1828.
John Breathitt (a), Sept., 1832.
James T. Morehead (c), Feb. 25, 1834.
James Clark (a), Aug. 30, 1836.
Charles A. Wickliffe (d), Aug. 27, 1838.
Robert P. Letcher, Sept., 1840.
William Owsley, Sept., 1844.
John J. Crittenden (e), Sept., 1848.
John L. Helm, July 1, 1850.
Lazarus W. Powell, Sept., 1851-55.
Charles S. Morehead, Sept., 1855-59.
Beriah Magoffin, Sept., 1859-62.
James F. Robinson, Sept., 1862-63.
Thomas E. Bramlette, Sept., 1863-67.
John L. Helm (a), Sept., (5d) 1867.
John W. Stevenson (g), Sept., 1867-71.
Preston H. Leslie (h), Sept., 1871-75.
James B. McCreary, Sept., 1875-79.
Luke P. Blackburn, Sept., 1879-83.
J. Proctor Knott, Sept., 1883-87.
Simon B. Buckner, Sept., 1887-91.
John Young Brown, Sept., 1891-95.
William O. Bradley, Dec, 1895-99.
William S. Taylor (i), Dec, 1899; Jan. 31,
1900.
William Goebel (j), Jan 31, 1900; Feb. 3,
1900.
J. C. W. Beckham, Feb. 3, 1900; Dec, 1903.
J. C. W. Beckham, Dec 8, 1903; Dec, 1907.
Augustus E. Willson, Dec. 10, 1907; Dec,
1911.
James B. McCreary, Dec. 12, 191 1, to Dec,
1915.
Augustus O. Stanley, Dec. 7, 191 5, to May,
1919.
James D. Black, May 19, 1919, to Dec. 9,
1919.
Edwin P. Morrow, Dec. 9, 191 9, to Dec,
1923.
W. J. Fields, Dec. n, 1923, to Dec, 1927.
Flem D. Sampson, 1927-1931.
Ruby Laffoon, 1931-1935.
A. B. Chandler (f), 1935-1939.
Keen Johnson (k), Oct. 9, 1939-Dec. 12,
1939-
Keen Johnson, Dec, 1939-1943.
S. S. Willis, Dec. 7, 1943-47.
(a) Died in office.
(b) The fifth Lieutenant-Governor. Gabriel Slaughter became Governor October 21, 1816,
upon the death of Governor George Madison and did not then preside as Speaker of the
Senate. He had been the third Lieutenant-Governor and presided over the Senate for four
years.
(c) James T. Morehead, the ninth Lieutenant-Governor, became Governor, February 22,
1834, after the death of Governor John Breathitt.
(d) The tenth Lieutenant-Governor, Charles A. Wickliffe, became Governor, October 5,
1836, upon the death of Governor James Clark.
(e) Governor John J. Crittenden resigned July 31, 1850, to become U. S. Attorney-General,
and Lieutenant-Governor John L. Helm became Governor.
(f) Resigned to become U. S. Senator, October 9, 1939.
(g) John W. Stevenson, eighteenth Lieutenant-Governor, became Governor upon the death
of Governor John L. Helm, September 8, 1867, and never presided over the Senate.
(h) Governor John W. Stevenson resigned February 13, 1871, having been elected to the
U. S. Senate, and Preston H. Leslie became Governor.
(i) William Goebel contested the seat of William S. Taylor, and was awarded the certifi-
cate on January 31, 1900, by vote of both Houses of the Legislature.
(j) William Goebel was shot from the executive building by an assassin, while walking
to the legislative building on January 30, 1900, dying on February 3, 1900. He was declared
elected on January 31, 1900, and was sworn in as Governor. Upon GoebePs death, J. C. W.
Beckham, who was declared elected Lieutenant-Governor with William Goebel, be 
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